Just the Beginning
by melaniesteps
Summary: Set after 2017 movie / They may have defeated Rita, but the Power Rangers' troubles are far from over. While also still dealing with their own personal dilemmas with their families, classmates, and each other, the Rangers must also face new challenges like protecting the crystal, new foes along with Rita returning, and a new, green Ranger. (READ NEWEST CHAPTER PLEASE)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey readers! I hope you all enjoy this story, as it is my first Power Rangers one. Please fav/follow/review if you enjoy it :)**

(Kimberly)

I crossed my arms, both to shelter myself a bit more from the chilly wind, but also to hide my impatience and nerves. My eyes scanned the small hill before me and I sighed heavily through my nose. I glanced over to Billy, who arrived around the same time as me, and I spoke up.

"Where are they? We've been waiting for a while," I asked. Billy's head tilted up and he squinted his eyes as he adjusted to the increase in incoming sunlight. He looked over the hill, then to me, shrugging, undoubtedly more interested in the trinket he was messing with at the current moment. I kept my eyes on him for one more moment before looking back to the hill, seeing Zack approach. He walked over to us and Billy looked up in reaction to hearing someone approach.

"Good morning," he said with a chirp and I kept my arms crossed, giving him an unamused look. He reached me and his smile faded a little bit, a confused frown taking its place. "What?"

"You're late."

"What's your deal?" He asked with a small chuckle. "It doesn't matter if we are a few minutes late, it's not like we have anything to worry about."

"That's not necessarily true. There's a reason Zordon wanted to talk to us and-"

"Hey," I heard Jason say loudly. I saw him approach a second after I heard him and I looked to him, as did Billy and Zack, who turned around to face Jason. "Hey," he repeated once he reached us, a little out of breath like he was really hustling to get here. "Sorry I'm late."

"Yeah," I said and scoffed, nodding to Zack. "I expected him to be late, but you?"

Jason sheepishly smiled and I couldn't help but smile back a bit, as I found his smile contagious, and he tilted his head.

"Yeah, I know. I would've been here sooner but...my dad…" He trailed off, still a bit winded. He inhaled deeply and exhaled, looking over the edge of the cliff

"Everything alright, dude?" Zack asked, sitting on the ground and resting his arms on his knees. Jason turned back to face us and nodded, pursing his lips.

"Yeah. He's just still up my ass about everything. Even _after_ the town gets shredded, he still has to make me feel all bad."

Neither Zack nor I said anything, not really knowing what to say. Billy was back to doing whatever it was with that odd object of his. I was about to speak, hoping to relieve some of the newfound awkwardness that filled the air around us, but stopped myself when Trini appeared over the hill.

"Hey, Crazy Girl," Zack said in a sing-songy voice. She gave him a slightly playful, slightly annoyed look and glanced over to Jason and I.

"You guys didn't have to wait for me, you know. I know the way," she joked.

"I just wanted to make sure everyone showed so we could go see Zordon. It seems important since he wouldn't summon us over nothing," I said back.

"Billy," Jason said, looking over to him. Billy's head shot up and he squinted his eyes once more, raising an eyebrow and waiting for a reason as to why his name was called. "Come on."

Jason motioned to the cliff and Billy hesitated for another moment before springing up. "Oh, right, right."

He walked over to us after putting his trinket in his backpack and we all waited, wondering who would want to go first this time. Jason looked to me and Trini and backed up to the side a bit, waving his arms towards the end of the cliff.

"Ladies first."

"You're such a gentleman," I said back with a smile, my irritation from waiting for them disappearing almost completely. Jason grinned back and I looked to Trini who nodded forward, waiting for me to jump. I took a deep, quiet breath and jumped off the edge of the cliff while pinching my nose, plunging into the cold water below. I swam over to the side and reached the wall just as another two splashes came, then one more, and then the final one, which was Zack.

"Ohhhh man," Billy said with a shallow breath after coming to the surface, shivering a little. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to that jump."

"Are you kidding?" Zack laughed and then raised his voice, looking up. "I love it!"

We all swam down and went into the ship, then following behind Jason into the main command center, the morphing grid light dim.

"Hello, Master Jason," Alpha greeted. "Master, Kimberly, Master Trini, Master Billy, Master Zack."

"Hey, Alpha," I said, and we walked further until we stood right in front of Zordon's wall. His face appeared and he looked down on us.

"Rangers, thank you for coming," he said, his voice loud as always.

"Of course," Jason said and crossed his arms slowly. "So...what's up?"

"The Green Coin is missing," Zordon stated bluntly. I felt my brows furrow in confusion as I exchanged both surprised and worried looks with the others. Billy quickly turned around and went up the short set of steps to see where we put the Coin.

"What-" Zack stuttered. "What do you mean 'missing?'"

"I mean it is no longer here. It's gone."

"Where'd it go? Does Rita have it?" I asked and Zordon shook his head. Billy came back down and shook his head at all of us, indicating that it really was missing.

"No, thankfully. Our sensors place it within Angel Grove High School, but that is as far as they can pinpoint it now. Unfortunately, due to Rita having the Green Coin all this time, we could not implement an exact tracking location on the Coin. Only your Coins could we do such a thing."

"Ok, so…someone in our school has it?" Jason asked.

"Precisely," Zordon answered. "With Rita no longer possessing the coin, it finds a new keeper. One who is worthy of holding the title of Green Ranger."

"A Green Ranger?" Billy asked and clapped his hands with excitement. "We get a new teammate?!"

"Yes, but first you all need to find out who that person is and I will let all of you judge if that person is worthy."

"How're we supposed to do that? Anyone in school could have it. And almost all of the kids who go there are complete morons," Trini pointed out and Zack laughed.

"We were all those same morons and we turned out to be pretty good Rangers."

"Keep your eyes peeled and be aware," Zordon interrupted, answering Trini's question. "You were all destined to be together, and eventually, fate will play a role in helping you identify who the Green Ranger is. But you must be the ones the realize and acknowledge the signs to find out who the Green Ranger is."

"Sounds easy enough," I mumbled sarcastically. Everyone else scoffed and Jason looked to Zordon.

"Zordon...can we ask you something?" He said and we all knew what he was referring to, as we all had the same concerns and had discussed them with each other just last night.

"Of course."

"Rita...she said there'd be more. More people to come after the Crystal. Is that...true? Are there others that we should be worried about?" Jason asked slowly, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"Yes, it is absolutely possible," Zordon answered honestly. I felt a pit appear in my stomach, as I'm sure the rest of my team did too. It was the same pit that I felt while we headed to Angel Grove in the Zords. It was a pit of uncertainty mixed with fear. "But, you all will only continue to improve. And with the addition of a new Ranger, I have no doubt that you will all keep the Crystal safe."

"Ok...," Jason sighed with a bit of relief, needing to hear some encouragement and reassuring. "Thank you."

"Alright, alright, let's go train!" Alpha said with enthusiasm and we all looked over in bewilderment.

"Train?" Zack asked and Alpha put his hands up in question.

"What? You think just because you save the world you don't have to go to the Pit anymore?" He asked and started to laugh before quickly turning serious again when he saw our hesitation. "C'mon, c'mon! We have new stuff to learn!"

I rolled my eyes in a bit of a sarcastic way and Jason caught my expression, laughing a little once he saw it and walked next to me when we headed to the pit.


	2. Chapter 2

(Zack)

I walked down the steps, towards the floor of the detention room and let my steps be heavy to announce my arrival in an obnoxious way. I saw Trini and Kimberly snicker a little while looking at each other and Jason tried to hide his smiled by shaking his head. Billy didn't look up, as he was writing something in his notebook attentively.

"Zack Taylor…" The teacher overseeing detention said slowly. "One minute and you would've been late."

I smirked a little and stopped dramatically midway down the steps. "Well it's a good thing last night I told myself 'Zack Taylor, you make sure you set your alarm one minute early to get to detention and make yourself a better you,'" I said back and the teacher just gave a flat smile and marked something on his clipboard while my team, as well as a few other detention-goers, couldn't help but laugh a little.

I grabbed a chair off of the desk near the back of the detention room and turned it around, plopping down in it and resting my arms on top of the back of it. I set my chin on my arms and closed my eyes. They weren't shut for more than a few seconds before I instinctively shot my arm up and caught a piece of paper, my eyes opening as well. I looked around, trying to see who threw it and saw that Jason was the one who threw it since he was looking to me, waiting for me to open it. I kept my eyes on him as I unfolded it and then shifted my eyes to the paper and read it with my head still facing Jason's direction.

' _ **Any luck on finding Green?'**_

I glanced up to him and slightly shook my head. It had been three days, four including today, since Zordon told us to keep an eye out for who the Green Ranger could be and I hadn't seen anything so far. He motioned to Kimberly with his eyes and I looked from Jason to the teacher. He was reading a book and I quickly flung the paper to Kim and she caught it, looking over. I nodded to Jason and he looked to her as she read the paper. She looked back up and shook her head. Instead of throwing it, she just reached over to the side and tossed it onto Billy's desk. He put his notebook down and read the note, looking to Kimberly. She tilted her head towards Jason and Billy shook his head at Jason. Billy then looked to me and was about to throw it, but the sound of another set of steps coming down the stairs caused him to stop and all of us to look at who was coming down. He wore a white jacket with blue jeans and white and green shoes and hustled down the steps.

"Tommy Oliver," the teacher said, his head towards the student coming down the stairs.

"Sorry, I'm late aren't I?"

"You are, and you were late last week when you didn't even show up," the teacher replied and Tommy gave a timid smile.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Harrison, my car wasn't working last week but it is this-"

"Save the excuses and have a seat, Mr. Oliver," the teacher interrupted and Tommy gave another timid smile smile and nodded.

"Yes sir," he said and sat down at a desk with a chair already down just a bit in front of me and to the right. I looked back to Billy and he quickly passed the note to Trini who caught it between her index and middle fingers. She looked to Jason and also shook her head. Jason rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, obviously not happy with the lack of progress. I rolled my eyes back, despite nobody being able to see my frustration since everyone sat in front of me.

Who was he to get mad at _us_?

I let my chin fall onto my arms once again and shut my eyes, staying this way for the rest of detention.

An hour later, Mr. Harrison dismissed us and I quickly stood up, getting off of the chair and hustling up the steps with the rest of the students in detention. I exited the school and saw Kimberly already waiting for the rest of us. I walked over to her and the rest of the team came up to us just a moment later.

"Let's go," Jason said and I scoffed.

"Where, dude?"

"Where do you think?" He said and started to walk at a brisk pace to his truck. I looked back to the rest of them and they all shrugged. I turned back to Jason and jogged to catch up with him. "We gotta see if Zordon has any ideas."

"Ideas about what?" I asked and Jason stopped, turning to me.

"What do you mean 'about what?' It's been half a week and we got _nothing_ on who-" Jason started to say in a raised and angry voice, but stopped and looked over to the kids exiting the school. He lowered his voice. "On who the Green Ranger is."

"It's not the worst thing in the world if we don't find him right away," Trini said and I stuck my arm out towards her in agreement.

"Thank you!" I looked back to Jason. "J, you gotta chill, man. It's not easy finding a needle in a haystack and I just started going back to school. I know almost no one here, buddy. And I don't think the rest of them," I said and motioned to the rest of the team. "Really know what to look for yet."

"We just need to be patient. Zordon said we will know when we find him or her," Billy mentioned and Jason folded his arms over his chest and looked to the side, taking a breath.

"We can't be taking our sweet time when some kid has the Coin," he hissed quietly, looking back over to us. "What if that dumbass bully from detention has it?" He asked, looking at Billy and then turned to Kim. "Or Amanda Clark?"

"What's wrong with Amanda Clark?" I asked, picking up on something Jason dropped. Whether it was intentional or not, Jason just basically told us there was some sort of bad blood between Kim and Amanda. I haven't gone to school for a while, but I did know they were friends.

We all looked over to Kim whose face turned pale and stiff as she kept her glance on Jason. She tried to stifle her sigh, but we all noticed it and she looked down at the ground and swallowed heavily.

"We need to find who has the coin," Jason firmly said, slightly changing the subject to a more general statement. "We can't have some idiot running around with it."

"Ok...well Zordon said we need to look for signs, right?" Trini reminded us and I laughed, everyone's eyes on me after my chuckle.

"I still don't even really know what that means," I admitted and saw Tommy walking towards his car out of the corner of my eye. I grinned and motioned to Tommy and the rest of the team subtly looked over to him. "Oliver's shoes are green. That a good enough sign, bossman?" I joked and Jason's serious and unentertained gaze darted towards me and my smirk turned to a frown almost immediately. "Fine, what do you want us to do?"

"Pay attention to your surroundings and stop slacking off," Jason answered and stormed off to his car. We all exchanged glances with each other, ranging from worried to annoyed.

"For real," I said as we watched his truck pull out of the spot and exited the school parking lot. "What's his deal?"

"He's just on edge. The whole not knowing who has the Green Coin and if people are going to come after the Crystal. I know I am," Kimberly answered and saw her parents car. She started to walk towards it before turning back to the rest of us. "I'll talk to him later and reason with him."

The remaining three of us watched Kimberly enter the car and the car drove off. I looked back to Billy and Trini and stuck my hands in my pockets.

"You guys wanna hang out?" I asked and Billy shook his head.

"Can't. I gotta finish up working on something for Alpha."

He headed to where his mom was parked and I looked to Trini.

"Looks like it's just you and I, Crazy Girl. Whaddya say?"

"Alright, let's go do something. Didn't really wanna head home today anyways," she said with a small smile and I smiled back.

We headed to my car and she entered, as did I, and I gave her a bit of a baffled look. "You don't need to call your parents or something? Let them know they don't need to pick you up from detention?"

"Oh, they don't know I'm in detention," she replied nonchalantly. I was taken aback a bit and kept my baffled expression turned to her. She caught it and spoke again. "What?"

"Your parents don't know you come here? They knew you skipped school, right? They didn't realize you'd get detention for that?" I asked and Trini nodded.

"I told them I got off with a warning and told them I was hanging out with friends this morning," she said, giving me a shrew smile and I smiled back, shaking my head.

"Crazy Girl strikes again," I boomed in a loud, deep voice, trying to sound like an announcer. "This time, she's lying to her own parents!"

"It's not a lie, you guys are my friends and we hung out." She shrugged. "It was just hanging out at detention. Anyway, telling them I now have friends got them off my back, but of course they wanna meet all of you like I'm some kind of five year old."

"Well you got the height of a five year old, so…"

She gave me a sarcastic glare and shook her head with a scoff. "Clever. Well now we need to go train so I can kick your ass."

"Heh," I mumbled and lowered my voice. "In your dreams, Crazy Girl."


	3. Chapter 3

(Jason)

My feet dangled loosely off the edge of the cliff as I stared down to the water below. The breeze this late morning was not bad and was nice to have, especially since the sun was beating down harsh rays of heat. That was odd, as it was mid-November and usually wasn't this warm out, even with the sun. I checked my phone and it was around 11.

Not more than an hour ago I yelled at me team to try to express disappointment. I kept my eyes on the cave below me and wanted to go down and tell Zordon our progress and ask for help, but I didn't want to see him disappointed in us. I had already seen that before, and even though I tried to show him it didn't faze me, it actually did.

Maybe I wasn't disappointed in my team; just worried that Zordon would be disappointed in me. Not to mention scared and fearful of who or what would come after the Crystal next. Whether that be Rita again or some newer and stronger foe.

"You're not gonna jump, right?" I heard Kim ask behind me and I looked up from the cave, smiling to myself. I turned around and saw her standing there with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised, a backpack on as well.

"Nah."

"Good, because I don't feel like training or anything today," she said in a light-hearted voice and I looked forward at the landscape of the mountains in front of us as she sat down next to me.

"How'd you know I was here?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the mountains that were miles out.

"Superhero," she quipped and I looked back to her, seeing that she was pointing to herself. I forced a smile, as well as a small chuckle.

I knew what she was trying to do with the casual and joking conversation, but I turned back to the mountains and avoided eye contact out of guilt and embarrassment. I hated yelling at my team and I especially hated yelling at Kimberly.

"Hey." I broke the silence, that thought reminding me of something I said right after detention. I looked to her and she looked back, listening intently on to what I was about to tell her. "Sorry about bringing up Amanda. I didn't even think when I said it and if the others would pick up on that or not."

When I mentioned Amanda's name while throwing out examples of who could have the coin and not friendly towards any of us, Kim's expression was stale and hurt. I should have noticed that immediately and apologized then and there.

She paused and looked forward, not expecting me to say that. She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I need to tell them soon, anyway. Just so there's no confusion or-"

"No," I quickly said, stopping her rant that would only cause her more self-doubt and kept facing her. She looked from the landscape back to me. "You don't need to tell them soon, or this month, or even this year." I knit my brows in an upward slant to express my sympathy and care. "You just tell them when you're ready. And if you aren't ever ready, there's nothing wrong with that. It's your business, y'know."

"I know, but…" she started to say and stopped. "I told you. And if I told you, they deserve to be told as well."

"It's my fault for even bringing it up, ok?" I said, directing the conversation into a slightly different direction. Kimberly exhaled a jittery breath. "You just tell them, if you want, when _you_ are ready."

"Ok," she said, nodding and smiling a little. I gave her a warm smile back and she cleared her throat, looking down for a moment. "Are you ok?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, actually knowing, however, that she was regarding my outburst at the team.

"You yelling at the team, that wasn't the Red Ranger lecturing us," she said and looked back up. "That was Jason Scott dealing with something else. What's wrong?"

I hesitated before answering. "Just the pressure to be a leader, I guess. I want to show Zordon that we didn't get lucky with Rita, y'know? I mean, I've thought that a few times. That we didn't deserve to win. That maybe some outside factors helped play a role in our victory." I stopped and looked over to Kim, who was looking to the mountains again in silence. "I know," I said with a small, nervous laugh. "It's weird. I think too much into it."

"No," she quickly said and looked to me. "I think the same thing, too. It makes me anxious, wondering if it will be the same outcome if..." She said and stopped, giving a grim scoff and corrected herself. "Well, _when_ someone else comes after the Crystal. If we will win again."

"So if we have those thoughts…" I slowly said. "Zordon probably does too. I wanna show him that we don't need help to find the Green Ranger and that we can do it quickly." I stopped again and coughed, attempting to clear my throat as it was starting to tighten up just a bit. "My dad is already plenty disappointed in me. I don't want Zordon to have any reason to be." I smiled a little, scoffing. "I just wish I could tell my dad I'm a Power Ranger. That I helped save Angel Grove _and_ the world." I paused and looked down, shaking my head. "That bastard would never be disappointed in me again," I muttered.

Kimberly giggled a little and nodded. "That would be easy, but you know we can't reveal our identities, unfortunately."

"I know," I agreed with a nod.

"It doesn't matter what your dad, or even Zordon, think about you, though," Kimberly said, her voice softening and lowering. I felt her gaze on me and looked to her, making eye contact. "It only matters if _you_ are disappointed in yourself or not. And right now...you shouldn't have _any_ reason to be. You helped us save the world and you are a great leader. You are serious and you care about all of us, even if the others can't always see that. That's all I could ever ask of you, and I know the rest of the team would say the same thing, too."

We kept looking at each other and I smiled. Not only due to what she said, but smiled just because of her. I don't think I've ever found her more attractive or wonderful until this moment now. Not only was she just so beautiful in this moment, but her words and reassurance gave me butterflies and no other girl had ever done that before and to this extent. I realized I felt the same exact way when she spoke to me in my bedroom, late that night. The night before Rita attacked. The fact that she confessed the thing that made her most vulnerable and insecure to me made me feel special to her. Like I was the most trustworthy person she had ever encountered. That night, I hesitated to make my move and I regretted it ever since.

I was not going to make that same mistake.

I slowly leaned in. She leaned in as well, and I felt our lips interlock as I closed my eyes. I put my hand up to her cheek, caressing it as we continued to kiss passionately. I almost didn't feel her place her hand on my thigh, as I was too enticed and occupied with the kiss. It felt as if her and I were the only two people currently on the planet.

"Woah!" Zack exclaimed and we both jumped, startled. Kim jumped so much that she lost her balance and fell off the cliff. I quickly lowered my arm and caught her by her wrist by pure reflex. I looked back to Zack and he quickly came over to help, and we both pulled her up. "We came up here hoping to train, not to see a soap opera!" He groaned out as we pulled her up.

"'We?'" I asked and we got Kim all the way up. I looked over and saw Trini chuckling on the hill, watching this whole ordeal. Kim punched Zack's arm and he laughed, rubbing where she hit him.

"Ow!" He continued to chortle and noticed both mine and Kim's bleak expressions, Kim's more angry than mine. "What? I saw you two swallowing each other, so I was surprised!"

"We were just kissing," Kim said back defensively. "And you scared the shit out of me! I nearly fell!" Kim pointed out, trying to find something else to get upset over. But I knew she was upset that Zack interrupted our kiss, as was I. I stood up, as did Zack and Kim. I looked to Zack and Trini and noticed Billy wasn't with them.

"Where's Billy?" I asked, still panting a little from Kimberly almost falling over.

"He said he had something to work on for Alpha, whatever that is even supposed to mean," Trini answered, stepping up a little. I nodded slowly and glanced over to Zack, wanting to get this out of the way.

"Hey, sorry for being a jerk," I said, changing the subject. I looked over to Trini as well. "I was too hard on you guys and that was not cool of me."

"All good," Zack said and Trini cleared her throat loudly, causing us all to look over to her. She tilted her head and raised her brows, looking at Zack. He groaned and rolled his eyes, looking back to me. "And I'm sorry, too."

There was a silence and Trini cleared her throat again. Zack looked over to her and she stuck her head out, wanting him to say more. "For…?" Trini asked and Zack looked down, kicking at the dirt.

"Being a sarcastic asshole," he mumbled and I looked back to Kimberly, laughing. I lightly hit him with the back of my hand.

"We're good," I said and Trini motioned to the edge of the cliff with her hand.

"You guys wanna come down and train with us?" She asked and I shook my head, slightly turning my nose up at the idea. I looked back to Kimberly, who shook her head quickly, and I turned back to Trini.

"I think we're ok for today. Just gonna chill, but I'll train tomorrow with you guys if you want," I answered. There was a short silence, but it was awkward enough for Kim to quickly step in.

"Or…" she said and swung her backpack around and opened it, revealing some food she had packed. "We can all just chill for today? Do a picnic?"

I hid my smile by scratching my cheek with my hand as I realized she had just intended on having a little picnic with just me. However, being polite as she usually was, she didn't want to exclude Zack and Trini.

Trini recognized Kim's intentions since she smiled a little bit and looked to me, but Zack was oblivious.

"Sure, I'm always down for-"

"No, c'mon, let's go train," Trini interrupted and started to walk towards the cliff.

"Wait, I want food. We can train tomorrow, bossman even said," Zack said with a bit of complaint in his voice, turning to Trini.

"Well, 'bossman' doesn't know how bad your footwork is and how much work it needs. C'mon," Trini stated and Zack bit his inner lip in mild embarrassment. Kim and I snickered and Zack looked back to us, winked, and lowered his voice.

"That's what she thinks. Wait'll I show her," he said and turned back to Trini and walked to the edge of the cliff. He did a backflip off and we all shook our heads at how extra he was. Trini looked back to us and smiled before jumping off as well.

"Thank God for Trini, huh?" I joked once I heard the splashes and Kim looked back to me and nodded eagerly in agreement.

"Glad she can take a hint," she said back and I grinned, and she quickly smiled a large smile back.

"You wanna go have that picnic now?" I asked, nodding to her backpack. She smiled and nodded, zipping it up and slipping it back on her shoulders. "We can sit in the bed of my truck. I think I got some blankets in the back seat if the wind picks up."

"Well…" She said slowly, swinging her head over to the forest. I gave a confused scoff.

"What?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to the spot where I cliff dive. Where we first truly met. We can eat and then go for a swim," she suggested and I felt my eyes bug-out and widen in extreme interest.

"We can definitely do that," I readily agreed, but hesitated as a thought came to mind. "Wait, isn't it kinda cold to go swimming in the lake? Wanna go to the pool?"

"What?" She asked and laughed. "You scared, Jason?"

I laughed back, a little embarrassed and looked to the side before looking back to her. "I'm not scared, it was just a suggestion."

"Yeah? Quite a dumb suggestion," she said back playfully and I chuckled again. She nodded to the forest. "C'mon."

"Yes m'am," I said and quickly followed behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

(Trini)

"Get up," I said with a whimsical tone behind it, looking down at Zack, who was on his back on the ground, clutching his side and groaning.

"Why can't we train while morphed?" He forced out, slowly rolling over and getting up. I helped him up by grabbing his upper arm. He stood up straight and inhaled sharply, closing his eyes. "We know how to now."

"I like training without it," I said, a little short-winded after our exhibition. He opened his eyes and I grabbed a water on one of the nearby rocks and tossed it to Zack, then grabbed one for myself. He nodded to me as a thank you for the water and put it under his shirt, on the side where he was clutching earlier. "Just incase we don't have access to it for some reason. Plus, it helps with pain tolerance."

"Speak for yourself," he said in a scratchy voice, dropping himself down onto the cave floor. I sat next to him and he grunted again, smacking his lips. He put his fingers to his bottom lip, then flicked his tongue over the same lip and wrinkled his nose up. "You drew blood."

"Pain tolerance," I reminded him and he forced out a wry laugh. "Even if it doesn't feel good now, it does help in the long run."

"Yeah, but you didn't get your ass kicked."

"You got me pretty good on the jaw," I said and pointed to my upper chin. "It'll all heal quickly, though. Even if we dealt the damage to each other."

"Doesn't change the fact that it hurts like a bitch," he said and I scoffed, shaking my head. I took a sip of my water and watched as Zack removed the water from his side to his lip, just over the cut. He removed the bottle and put his tongue over his lip again before opening up his own water and drinking greedily from it. He sighed heavily once he finished drinking and sniffled a little. "So have you really not seen anything?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, seen anything that could lead us to who has the Green Coin," Zack clarified and I tilted my head up.

"Oh. Well...no, not really. I just hang out with you guys at lunch or in the hallway and talk to Kim in biology, but that's it. I keep to myself in all my other classes."

"Yeah, me too. Billy is in my gym class and I got Kim in English, but that's it. I don't even know the names of 90% of the kids in my class. Like, that Tommy kid in detention today?" Zack said and put his hands up before letting them fall back down. "Nope, never even knew he existed."

"I've seen him around before but he's too normal," I said. "He's on the baseball team and he has his shit together."

"Why is he in detention? Like, what for? If he's there, he clearly doesn't have his shit together" Zack asked and I shrugged.

"Not sure," I answered and tried thinking of anyone that could have the coin. "On Thursday and yesterday, there was a guy who was right behind Kim in the lunch line and he is in my math class, I think."

"What's his name?" Zack asked, taking another sip of water.

"Mikha...Sanderson? I think?" I said, making it sound more like a question. Zack gave me an amused look and I rolled my eyes, lightly hitting his shoulder with my hand. "Gimme a break, I don't know every person at Angel Grove High like they're my best friends. I'll do some digging on the kid, though. I do know his first name is Mikha, though."

"Well, more progress than I'm making. We need to have Kim and Jason point out people to us since they pretty much know everyone," Zack scoffed and I laughed back, nodding in agreement.

"Speaking of Jason, thanks for apologizing earlier to him, by the way. I think he appreciated that."

"Did I have a choice?" He asked and I tilted my head, squinting my eyes in sarcastic thought.

"Not really," I answered finally and laughed, Zack giving me a half smile in return. "But you still did it, and that shows maturity." Zack's half smile turned into a real one at the compliment and his eyes perked up. "We need to all be on the same team."

"I am on the same team," Zack stated and stood up slowly, holding onto his side as he did so. "It's just...Jason can be such a bossy guy sometimes."

"Well, that's his job, Zack," I said and stood up as well. "He is the leader, he's doing the best he can. This is all still pretty new to us, including him."

"Yeah, I guess," Zack sighed. "But I did try to hang out with him and Kimberly, today. When she offered." I couldn't help but laugh and Zack gave me a confused look "What?"

"She didn't really mean that offer, y'know," I told him and his confused look intensified.

"Then why'd she ask?"

"To be nice," I answered. "They obviously wanted to be alone. I mean, we walked to them right as they were kissing."

"What, was them having feelings for each other supposed to be some kind of secret?" Zack asked and scoffed, shaking his head. "We saw them kiss just now, won't be a surprise next time we see them do it."

"Doesn't mean they don't want their alone time," I explained and looked to him. "Besides, hanging out with him _and_ Kimberly does not count as spending time with Jason so don't try to make that excuse."

"Yes it does," Zack protested and saw my unconvinced look and threw his hands up, still confused. "Why wouldn't it?"

"Because Kim is good at making things not awkward. If it was just you and Jason, you'd both be forced to bond and be nice to each other to make it not awkward."

"Well, him and I bonded when we had the bonfire that night, so him and I are good," Zack said, but even he didn't believe that sentence. I knew how he felt; he was used to being a lone wolf but also wanted to be the alpha male and felt less than Jason due to the fact that Jason was our chosen leader, not Zack. Zack didn't hate Jason or was envious of him, but he didn't respect him as much as the rest of us did or even respect him enough to make our team stronger. Zack read my unconvinced look again and sighed, looking down. "What do you want me to do, hm? Have a slumber party with the guy?"

"No," I chuckled and became serious again. "Just...try to listen to him a little more? Sometimes he can come across bossy, but, like I said, he's new to all this just like us. He will become a better leader over time and we will all become better Rangers over time, too." Zack leaned his head back and sighed dramatically.

"Yeah…" he said in a low voice. "You're right." He looked to me and gave me a devilish grin. "I should start calling you 'Smart Girl.'"

I tilted my head and pursed my lips, making it look like I was really thinking hard. "I kinda like Crazy Girl, better."

Zack smiled even bigger and nodded, bowing sarcastically. "As you wish, Crazy Girl."

(Billy)

Quickly flipping through my notebook, I walked with purpose towards the cliff and carefully placed the notebook in my bag I brought. I put the ziplock bag in my backpack and was about to jump down, but stopped and looked up, beginning to pace nervously as I thought about how to introduce my ideas to Alpha and Zordon.

"Hello Alpha, Zordon," I quietly said to myself, practicing. "Alpha, I did what you asked and figured an algorithm for the up-and-coming Communicators." I turned back sharply, walking the other way. "Last night, I-"

"Billy!"

I looked to where the shout came from and saw Jason and Kim standing on the small hill. They both had towels around their shoulders, but Jason had no shirt on. They walked over and I looked to Jason.

"Why are you not wearing a shirt, and why is your hair wet?" I asked, noticing their damp hair when they got closer. Jason looked over to Kimberly and they both snickered.

"We were just swimming, Billy. The lake is just a fourth of a mile that way," Jason stated obviously and pointed in the south-east direction past the hill. I opened my mouth but quickly closed it, not knowing why I didn't realize that before. Kimberly grabbed her towel by the ends and slightly pulled it down against her neck, nodding to me.

"What're you doing here, Billy?" She asked. "Trini and Zack said you went home to work on something after detention."

"Well, I-I have been working on something," I answered and Jason raised his eyebrows, waiting for me to tell him and Kim what I was working on. However, I wasn't sure if Alpha and Zordon wanted me to share with the team yet before the project was finished. "It is my, um, history homework."

"History homework?" Jason repeated, scoffing and doubting me. I straightened myself up and tilted my head at him.

"Yes, my history homework," I said, more confident in my tone to make the lie more convincing.

"Why are you working on it here?" Kimberly asked, her eyebrows showing her dubiousness.

"Because…" I said slowly, then quickly caught myself and continued talking. "Because Zordon and Alpha have lived on this planet for 65 million years. Figured they could help me with it since they have literally seen all of history."

Both Jason and Kimberly were silent for a few seconds that felt like years before Jason raised his eyebrows and nodded, pressing his lips together. "That actually makes sense."

"What're _you_ two doing here?" I asked, directing the conversation away from myself.

Jason and Kimberly laughed again and Kim removed the towel from around her neck and shoulder and held it up in one hand.

"Swimming, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. Right, right," I said and nodded to them. "Well, I'll see you guys later."

"Yeah," Jason chuckled and stuck his hand out. I did a quick handshake and he turned around. "I'll text you later, Billy."

"Sounds good," I said, and looked down to the cave over the cliff.

"Bye Billy," Kimberly said and I looked back up quickly.

"Yeah, bye!" I shouted back, as they had nearly disappeared over the hill. I waited until they went over the hill and then a few more moments before sighing angrily.

"You gotta work on your lying," I whispered harshly to myself before jumping off the cliff.


	5. Chapter 5

(Kimberly)

'Here,' I texted Jason and he almost instantly replied.

'Ok, be there in 5,' his text said back.

It had now been 12 days since that fateful Tuesday that Zordon revealed a new Ranger and we still had close to nothing. Only a few possibilities as to who it could be, but they were stretches and there was no way to prove if our theories were right or not. Twice this week we had met with Zordon to ask for advice, but both times, he just told us there was nothing he could do and that we had to be the ones to acknowledge the signs that fate was providing for us. The team was tired and frustrated, as we still couldn't figure out who it was that had the Green Coin. Jason and I were simply meeting for another picnic this evening before school this week.

I put my phone in my back pocket and held onto the straps of my bag on my back, just finishing up the walk over the hill that indicated I had reached the cliff. I stopped dead in my tracks, however, when I saw someone sitting on the edge of the cliff, looking over the horizon. It was a guy, judging by his physique, and it definitely wasn't Jason, Billy, nor Zack, since this stranger had light brown hair that was not of the same style as Jason's. This guy's hair was a bit longer than Jason's and was a bit lighter. I tilted my head, slowly starting to recognize him.

"Tommy?" I asked and his head quickly shot back as he jumped a little. My guess was confirmed, as when he turned around, it did turn out to be Tommy Oliver. To be honest, I always thought the guy was pretty cute and he seemed sweet.

"Oh my god!" he said, startled. He put his hand over his chest and laughed nervously. "You scared me."

"Sorry," I said and gave a bashful smile. He looked to me for another moment with a reluctant expression, as if he didn't know who I was. "I'm Kim," I stated, helping him out. "Kimberly Hart."

"Oh," he said and laughed again, standing up. "I know who you are, everyone kinda does. I was just wondering what a girl like you is doing in the middle of nowhere. Shouldn't you be shopping or something?" He chuckled, putting his hands in his jacket pockets, and I forced a smile, not appreciating the comment. It must've shown on my face, since Tommy quickly tried to take it back. "Sorry, I didn't mean it in a rude way. That came off wrong."

"It's ok," I said back, being candid. I slowly came a little closer to him and sighed, looking over the horizon. "So...what're you doing up here? Shouldn't you be playing beer pong with the rest of the baseball team or going to the batting cages? You gotta get ready for the spring," I joked and looked back to him.

Tommy let out a sarcastic sneer, squinting his eyes, and then genuinely laughed. "Actually, since it's a Sunday, I don't have anything going on. Just had a sudden urge to go for a hike, so," he said, shrugging and turning to the cliff, then back to me. "I did. Brought some food up and just watched the sun start to set."

"Sounds poetic," I joked and he smiled.

"'Poetic?'" He repeated, looking up. He looked back to me and shook his head but raised an eyebrow. "Relaxing? Yes."

"Aren't you in detention with-" I started to say and was about to say 'us', but stopped, realizing he wouldn't understand what I meant when I said 'us'. "Aren't you in Saturday detention?" I asked again, correcting myself.

"Yeah," he said, keeping his smile that subtly turned into a timid one. "That's what happens when you get busted with weed."

"What?" I exclaimed in surprise. "And you didn't get kicked off the team for that?"

"Nope, my dad made sure of that," Tommy said with a mischievous smile and I shook my head at him, keeping my friendly smile.

"You're bad news, Oliver," I joked. "Well, have fun. Enjoy your evening," I said and quickly turned back, already reaching for my phone to tell Jason to not come. I walked with pace for a second or so before Tommy quickly ran up to me.

"Wait, hang on," he said and got somewhat in front of me. "You came up here too. Did you wanna watch the sunset, this your spot?"

"Oh, no. It's ok, really."

"You sure? Because you are more than welcome to join me. We can talk some more?" he asked in a suggestive tone. I gave him a flat smile and shook my head.

"Really, it's alright. I can go somewhere else," I answered and kept walking.

"Ok, no problem. See you at school," he said, his disappointment profound and poorly hidden. I walked nimbly back into the forest and pulled out my phone, calling Jason.

"Hey, Kim," he said, answering on the second ring. "I'm almost there-"

"Hey, don't come up. Someone is here already and it will look weird to him if another person goes up since it's such an odd spot."

"Wait, what? Who's up there, you see their face?"

"Tommy," I answered, heading back to the parking lot.

"Tommy McShane?"

"Oliver."

"What? What's he doing up there?" Jason asked, confused.

"Watching the sunset or something, I don't know. Does it matter?"

"Yes! Yes, Kim, it matters!" Jason said frantically. "Maybe he is the one who has the Coin, that's why he came up."

I stopped my swift walk abruptly as I took Jason's thought into consideration. "You think?" I asked quietly, looking back in the direction of the cliff.

"Yes! Maybe this is the sign we've been looking for!" He said with excitement and I sighed, not entirely believing it anymore.

"Yeah, but maybe this is just a coincidence? I mean, Zordon said we should look for multiple signs, and this is just a random encounter with Tommy. He's active so a hike for him isn't unordinary. If it was some kid that Billy used to be like, then I'd be surprised."

"Go back up there and talk to him. I'll be there in one minute."

"No, Jason. Let's just go back to your truck and we can talk there, ok? Trust me, I don't think Tommy is it. At least not right now."

"Fine," Jason said after some silence. "I'm coming to my truck. But, this week, we keep an eye on Tommy. He's our main lead, ok?"

"Fine," I said back. "See you in a few."

"Bye, see you soon."

I hung up and kept heading down towards the parking lot, finally reaching a marked trail, which indicated that I was close. My phone rang again and I looked to it, seeing Jason was calling.

"What's up?" I asked after answering.

"My stone is blinking. Zordon needs us."

"Ugh…" I groaned and sighed. "Ok, how're we supposed to get inside if Tommy is there?"

"I'm here right now and he's gone. Must've just left. Just get over here soon in case he comes back."

"I'll be right there."

(Zack)

"What's wrong now?" I asked, throwing my hands up as I walked into the main part of the ship. "I was two moves away from checkmating my mom and now she has time to plan. Not to mention it's a Sunday night and she doesn't like me out on Sundays. This better be good."

"Stop it," Jason said in a serious, low voice and I looked to him, as well as the rest of the team. I was the last one to arrive after Jason had texted all of us, telling us to come to the ship, as it was urgent. They all had worried expressions on their faces and I panned over them with my eyes.

"What?"

"Rita's back," Jason said, looking up from the ground and to me.

"Ok…" I said slowly. "But we knew she'd probably be coming back. Is this that big a deal?" I asked, not really caring too much. We beat her once and we could certainly do it again, especially now that we had the Crystal. "We got her Crystal, she's weak without it."

"Zordon's afraid she's not alone," Trini said and nodded towards the wall that held Zordon's face. I looked to him and shrugged.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You said it yourself, she is weak without the Crystal. This means that she will bide her time and most likely get help from someone else who is a danger to the universe," Zordon answered and I scoffed.

"Could you be any more vague?"

"Can you be serious for once?" Jason firmly said, slightly raising his voice. "Zordon told us about someone named Zedd and Zordon thinks he's coming too. Zedd is worse than Rita, and without her Crystal, they'll be more desperate than ever."

I tilted my head to the side and stretched my neck, inhaling deeply. "Ok, so where is she? And this Zedd guy, where's he?"

"We…" Alpha said, stepping up. "Our sensors pick them up within Earth. They're here."

I breathed in deeply again and nodded, scratching my nose to hide my nerves. "Ok...do we know when they're coming?"

"No," Kim said, shaking her head. "Like Zordon said, they'll bide their time."

"Which also means you have time," Zordon said and we all turned to face him. "Time to train and to find that Green Ranger. Every day, you will come here for at least an hour and train and every day you will update me on the status of the Green Ranger. Alpha has been working more on the tracking technology of the Green Coin, so hopefully that will help." We all nodded and Zordon continued. "Come back tomorrow, and be aware of your surroundings. Not only are you keeping an eye out for the Green Ranger, but you are now watching out for Rita and Zedd. And Rangers…" We all turned back to Zordon and waited for him to continue. "Don't be afraid to use your weapons if approached my Rita or Zedd. They are within your morphing suits for a reason."

We all nodded again, appreciating the reassuring comment from Zordon. We all knew how to access our own weapons, but most of us were scared to at first. We headed for the exit in somber silence.

"I almost forgot," Billy said, reaching into his jacket pocket, reaching around for something. We all exchanged tired glances as he pulled out black straps from his pocket, handing one to each of us.

"What're these?" Kimberly asked and we continued to walk, heading closer to the exit of the ship.

"They're...holsters, I guess you could say, for our Coins. You put the strap on your leg, your upper thigh to be exact, and slip the coin in. The strap can be adjusted so you can slip it around your stomach or lower torso if you're wearing tighter pants and don't want it sticking out," Billy smiled and I smiled back, nodding to Billy, knowing that he was trying to make us feel better.

"Thanks, dude," I said and patted Billy's shoulder. He gave another smile, but then frowned a little.

"Do you guys have any new news on the Coin?" Billy asked quietly once we reached the outside. It was dark now, and the crickets had just come out to start their chirping.

"Actually," Jason said and nodded to Kimberly. "Kim ran into Tommy on the cliff just an hour or two ago. We thought maybe that meant something."

"If I'm being honest," I said, a bit tired of hearing everyone's suggestions. We all thought something, anything, and everything was a sign and names were being thrown out left and right the past few days. "We always think anything means something. We could just be seeing things that don't even mean anything as signs because we are all so delusional and lost on how to find this guy."

"It doesn't hurt to suggest people to keep a special eye out for," Jason said back and I nodded, but sighed.

"I know, but we are just overwhelmed. Well, at least I know I am."

"Tommy is a good lead. No one comes up here," Jason said with raised eyebrows at all of us. "No one. We watch him tomorrow and Tuesday. You guys know if you got any classes with him?"

"I…" Trini said slowly, obviously tired, both physically and mentally. "I think I have my history class with him."

"He's in my psychology and anatomy class," Billy answered quickly and Jason looked to me and Kimberly, both of us shaking our heads.

"Ok, he's in my gym. We watch this guy, ok? I gotta feeling about this one," Jason said, nodding. "Ok?"

"Ok," I said, giving in to Jason's false fantasy. "We follow up on Tommy."

"Alright," Kimberly said, and then Trini.

"Yup."

"You got it," Billy said and Jason started to head towards the parking lot before turning back around, looking at all of us with concern behind his eyes.

"And be safe. No one goes anywhere alone if you can help it, ok?" He said in a soft voice, briefly glancing over to Kim for a second before going back to looking at all of us. "Who knows when Rita and her new friend will strike."

We all nodded and all walked to our cars together.


	6. Chapter 6

(Jason)

I twirled the cheap, wooden PE racket in my right hand, tossing a tennis ball up and down in my left as I walked out to an empty court. I waited patiently, for maybe half a minute, until someone without a partner came over to my court. I bounced the ball in the meantime, keeping my eyes up and looking to the other side of the court.

"Let's get those heart rates up!" Mr. Byrne shouted from outside the fence that surrounded the courts, cupping his hands around his mouth. "20 minutes in your zone for credit!"

"Need a partner, Scott?" I heard someone yell from near the gate. It was Tommy and he came over to my court. Another sign, perhaps? He was coming to play tennis with me and this could be the break my team and I needed. Thankfully him and I knew each other and were friends in middle school, so it wouldn't be awkward talking and playing with him.

"Yeah," I said, looking down and continuing to bounce the ball. "That'd be great." I bounced the ball hard and stuck my racket out, bouncing the ball on my racket and walking up towards the net. I had never been able to bounce it this long, especially without watching it, but being a Power Ranger offered improved hand-eye-coordination.

This was the perfect opportunity to see if Tommy was a real possibility, since I couldn't talk to him yesterday since he wasn't here. "You wanna serve first?"

"Nah, you go."

"Alright," I nodded and spoke in a casual tone. "Hey, where were you yesterday? We actually played baseball."

"You guys did?" He asked, disappointed. "Man, I could've shown up the whole gym class." He laughed and I laughed back. He pointed to me with the head of his racket. "Like you do whenever we play football."

"Ah," I said, waving him off and shaking my head. "Well, not anymore."

"Oh, right," he said and whispered, leaning in with a smirk. "Moo."

"Yeah," I laughed again, nodding. "But didn't you get caught with drugs in your locker? How're you still playing baseball?"

"It was only marijuana, and yeah, I'm still playing."

"Lucky boy," I joked and Tommy smirked, shrugging.

"Come on, Scott. Enough talk and let's play," he said and I tilted my head.

"Alright, but don't be too upset when I win!" I shouted, backing up to the baseline of the court. Tommy let out a sarcastic laugh and I brushed my hand subtly over the part of my PE shorts that were just over the strap that held my Coin, hoping that if Tommy did have the Coin, he had it on himself right now. If he had it on himself right now, his new attributes would not be hard to miss.

I tossed the ball up and served it down with force, waiting to see Tommy's return. He brought his racket back and swung hard and swiftly, hitting the ball back with a decent amount of force, but the ball was hit too hard and it went out.

"Out!" I yelled, loud enough for him to hear from the other side of the court. I went to the ad side and threw the ball up, serving it again with strength behind it.

"Out," he called when it landed long. I grabbed the other ball in my pocket and served it hard. I quickly ran up to the net to cut off his return. He hit the ball with his racket and it came quickly towards me with some serious momentum behind it. I reached to my right to volley it, and when I felt the ball hit the strings of my racket, it shattered. I looked to my racket and all that was left was the handle, as the top of it was completely destroyed. Splinters of split wood from the racket covered my hand and I winced in mild pain, but was more focused on the fact that my racket just basically exploded on impact.

"Shit!" someone on the next court shouted.

"Hey, hey!" our PE teacher yelled, looking over. "Watch the-" he stopped abruptly, seeing my shattered racket. His eyes went wide as he went through the gate and ran over to our court. I dropped the handle of my racket and looked to Tommy, whose eyes were as wide as the teacher's.

"Oh my god, Jason are you ok?" Tommy exclaimed, dropping his own racket and jogging up to the net. I nodded, holding my right wrist up with my left hand.

"What happened?" The teacher asked. "How-"

"I…" I said and started to laugh with shaky breaths. "I don't know. Oliver's got some serious strength, Mr. Byrne."

"I'd say so!" He agreed and looked to Tommy. "It's the baseball player in you."

"Yeah, I guess," Tommy said, shaking his head and looking at my bleeding hand. "Jason, really, are you ok?"

"It-" I said and forced a groan, wincing. "It doesn't feel good."

To be honest, it barely even hurt, but I knew I had to fake it a little bit to not draw any suspicions from anyone near me. Other kids started to surround the court, looking to see what all the commotion was.

"Jason, get on down to the nurse. Can someone go with him?" Mr. Byrne asked, looking back to the crowd of students and Tommy quickly piped up.

"Yeah, yeah. I can go," he answered and Mr. Byrne made a grim and uneasy face when he saw blood still seeping from my wounds.

"Alright, alright get on outta here, go."

I followed Tommy off the court and he opened the gate for me. I nodded to him in thanks and headed down the path back to the school. We walked in silence for a minute or so before he spoke.

"I'm so sorry, man. I got no idea how that even happened. I didn't even hit it hard!"

"Well my bleeding hand would beg to differ," I joked and Tommy looked down, feeling guilt. "Oh, I'm kidding Tommy. It was an accident, those rackets are old and crappy anyway. Only a matter of time before they would eventually give out."

"Still…" Tommy said and we walked in silence for a few more seconds. I looked to my hand and realized this confirmed my theory that Tommy was our Green Ranger. He had to be, since this large increase in strength that he couldn't control at the moment was present. The only problem I had was how to get Tommy to tell me about the Coin.

We reached the main building and Tommy opened the door for me, then got the nurse's door for me. I nodded to the front nurse and her eyes bugged out when she saw my hand.

"Oh my goodness, hun, what happened?" She asked and I tilted my head to Tommy who was sitting in one of the waiting chairs.

"Kid's got an arm," I scoffed and Tommy stood up.

"His tennis racket shattered, got a bunch of splinters in his hand," Tommy answered seriously and the nurse waved me behind the counter.

"Thank you for bringing him here, Tommy. Head back to your gym class, ok?" The nurse said and Tommy nodded. I quickly realized I wanted to do one more little test before Tommy left and removed my heart rate strap with my left hand, as the nurse as about to work on removing the splinters from my right hand. I threw it towards Tommy with power behind it and spoke up just before it reached him.

"Hey-" I started to say, but he shot around and caught the strap out of the middle of the air. He looked surprised himself and stared at it for a second before looking to me. I coughed to prevent my impulse to smirk and nodded to him. "Mind putting that back in the locker room for me?"

"Yeah…" he said slowly and quietly, nodding. "No problem."

He exited the nurse's station and I let my smile appear, relieved that I now knew who the Green Ranger was, as no normal human could have strength or reflexes like the ones that Tommy just displayed.

(Trini)

I felt someone sit down next to me at the table and already knew it was Zack, due to the fact that I could smell his cologne. I looked over to him and he took a huge bite out of his hamburger, nodding and closing his eyes.

"These burgers aren't even bad for school food," he mumbled, his mouth full of food. I wrinkled my nose up and shook my head, looking to Kimberly.

"Why is he like this?" I asked, pointing to Zack with my thumb. Kimberly just laughed, shaking her head and shrugging. Billy sat next to Zack and I looked to him.

"Hey, Billy, where's Jason?" I asked and Billy looked up from his food and raised his shoulders, not knowing.

"I don't know," he answered.

"He's probably following up on 'leads,' which is half of the school at this point," Zack scoffed, swallowing his bite after finishing the sentence.

"You wanna finish chewing before you talk?" I asked and Zack took another bite and paused.

"Mmmmm," he thought and looked to me. "Nope."

Nobody knew this or maybe even guessed this, but if it wasn't for times like this with him, I would probably find him more attractive. Despite mainly being interested in girls, I couldn't deny that I found Zack to be a bit handsome and alluring, but also repulsive and obnoxious sometimes.

"Anything with Tommy in your history class?" Kim asked and I shook my head.

"He wasn't here yesterday and he was just his usual self in history. Talked with his friends."

"Billy? How was he in your classes?"

"Normal," Billy said. "Nothing seemed different about him."

"Damn," Kim hissed, sighing. "Anyone got any new ideas?"

"Yeah," Zack said after swallowing his second bite and looked up, scanning the cafeteria. He all looked to him and waited. "Ketchup would go great with this."

He stood up and went to the table that held the condiments. I shook my head at him and couldn't help but laugh a little, as did Kimberly. I looked back down to my food and picked at it, not really hungry after thinking that Tommy was another blown lead.

"Hey," Jason said quickly, setting his tray of food down and sitting across from me and next to Kimberly. I looked up and sat up straight in attention, hoping he found something. He leaned in towards the table and Kim and I did as well, Billy eating his food and looking over something in his notebook. "It's Tommy."

"No, Jason, we-" I started to say but he held a hand up and tilted his head.

"Just-listen," Jason said and lifted up his right hand, revealing it to be completely bandaged, only his fingers being exposed.

"Woah, what happened?" Kimberly asked frantically, but quietly.

"During PE, Tommy hit the tennis ball back _so hard_ that my racket just _shattered_. Like, it just...exploded."

"No way," I said with a smile, shaking my head.

"I'm serious. It didn't hurt or anything, I'm fine, but there is no other explanation as to how that could've happened. And," Jason said, his voice starting to raise due to excitement. He quickly caught himself and lowered it again. "And, his reflexes are _insane_. I threw my heart rate strap to him, his back turned, and he whipped around and caught it without me saying _anything_ , no problem."

"Enhanced strength and enhanced reflexes," Billy said, joining the conversation. "Just like us."

" _Exactly_ like us," Jason corrected and leaned back. "Tommy is our Green Ranger."

"Uh oh," Zack said, getting back to the table. "I saw whispering, who's our next lead?"

"Sit," I said and Zack looked to me before slowly lowering himself.

"What…?" He asked unsurely.

"It's Tommy," Jason said in a low tone. "He's the Green Ranger."

"Jason-" Zack started, but Kim cut him off.

"No, it is. Jason told us that Tommy hit a tennis ball so hard that Jason's racket shattered all over his hand. And Tommy has these insane reflexes just like we have."

Zack noticed us all looking to him as we waited for his reaction, even Billy, and Zack started laughing, shaking his head. He looked to Jason and raised an eyebrow.

"Ok, let's say it _is_ Tommy. How we gonna prove that? How we gonna get Tommy to show us his Coin without exposing ourselves? Because if we blow our cover and the Green Ranger _isn't_ Tommy, we're all screwed."

"I know," Jason grumbled, looking down at his food. "I know."

"Maybe we can ask Alpha and Zordon today if there's someway they can confirm it? Now that we have an actual name as to who it could be?" Billy suggested and I shrugged.

"Or someone just go talk to the guy about why he was up on the cliff Sunday night. Maybe that's when he found the Coin?" I asked and Jason shook his head.

"Nah, Zordon said that the Coin chooses someone right away, remember? So Tommy has had it for the past two weeks."

"Well then...just…" I sighed, giving up. "I don't know."

"If only Alpha and Zordon could input the same algorithm for our Coins into the Green one. It's close enough now to where they could do it," Billy said with a small sigh. We all looked to each other, and then to Billy, who was about to lift a forkful of corn to his mouth. He caught all of us looking to him and furrowed his brows in confusion. "What?"

"Billy, that's genius!" Jason exclaimed with a laugh. "Did you tell Zordon and Alpha about this idea?"

"No?" He said, still confused. I laughed and rolled my eyes, leaning in towards Billy.

"Billy, make sure you tell them today," I said and Billy nodded.

"O-ok," he said and shoveled the fork into his mouth. We shook our heads again and scoffed, wondering to ourselves in a humorous way how sometimes Billy could be so smart, yet so oblivious at the same time.

A/N: Hey readers! I hope you are all enjoying the story. Please let me know in the reviews how you are liking it and if there's anything I can improve upon. Also, I know there has been like no action lol but I promise in the upcoming chapters there will be action!


	7. Chapter 7

(Billy)

The rest of the team looked up to Zordon, waiting for his response to my idea that I had presented just now. I told everyone else at lunch and they told me I should be the one to tell Zordon.

"That's...well, genius, Billy," Zordon said slowly and even scoffed, looking to Alpha. "How come you didn't think of that sooner?"

"It just never crossed my thoughts, Master," Alpha replied, shrugging. "I was just so used to Rita having the Coin for the past 65 million years."

"Just get to work on implementing the formula into the Green Coin and get a coordinate point," Zordon ordered.

"Aye yi yi," Alpha responded.

Everyone else laughed a little at Alpha's mild sass but I just looked back up to Zordon and stepped closer, lowering my voice.

"And, Zordon," I stuttered in a quiet voice. "I, uh, finished those...um, gadgets that you had me begin to work on. I just haven't exactly...tested them yet?"

"Do you have them with you?" Zordon asked and I hesitated, quickly reaching into my backpack.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I got them," I answered and pulled out the plastic bag from my backpack with held the small trinkets. I pulled out my own, a small bracelet that looked like a watch, the glass that covered it tinted blue. I held it up to show Zordon, feeling proud of my work that had taken over two labor-intense and study-intense weeks to finish. "I also have the other ones and I even made a green one for when we find the Green Ranger, and-"

"Billy," Zordon said, cutting me off from my nervous babbling. "That looks spectacular. But...you said you haven't tested it yet?"

"Yeah, no I haven't, not yet," I answered and the rest of the team stepped up a little.

"Tested what yet?" Jason asked, crossing his arms. He nodded to my hand. "Whatcha got, Billy?"

"Rangers, I introduce to you your new Communicators," Zordon said and I looked back to him.

"'Communicators?'" Zack repeated and scoffed.

"Yes, Billy did an excellent job crafting them."

I felt the proud feeling intensify as I smiled to my team. Zack gave me an amused and confused look as he put his arm around me, hooking his elbow lightly around my neck and patting my chest with his other hand.

"I already got a Communicator. It's called a cell phone," Zack said back and everyone else snickered, but I just shook my head.

"Can your cell phone teleport you places?" I asked and Zack's smirk faded as he quickly became shocked, an awestruck look filling his face.

"What?" He asked and pointed to the Communicator in my hand. "That thing can _teleport_ you?"

"Well, I haven't actually tested it yet, but yeah, that's what it's supposed to do…" I said, trailing off. Zack looked back to everyone else and laughed, pointing to the plastic bag that held the rest of them.

"Yo, give me mine! I wanna try this puppy out!" Zack exclaimed and I turned to Zordon, who nodded.

"Ok," I nodded back and dug around in the bag, pulling out Zack's, which had a grey-black tint to it. I handed it to him and he turned it around in his hands, staring at it with curiosity. Jason, Kimberly, and Trini all crowded around Zack and gawked at the device as well.

"Do we all get one?" Trini asked, looking up from Zack's Communicator to Zordon.

"Yes."

"How do I work this thing, Billy?" Zack asked, coming back up to me and holding out the Communicator.

"Well, I input coordinates for certain locations into the watch already. You push this button," I said and pressed the side button that looked just like the crown of a regular watch. A small number pad popped out and I pointed to the numbers. "And type in the code. Jason's house is 001, Kimberly's is 002, Trini's is 003, yours is 004," I said, pointing to Zack. "and mine is 005. The ship, where we are standing right now in front of Zordon, is 010, and the Zords are 020. Finally, the Krispy Kreme is 030 for when Rita goes after the Crystal again."

"You input our houses?" Jason asked with a scoff and I nodded.

"Y'know, just in case one of us is in trouble or something," I said with a shrug and Jason gave me a smile.

"Billy, this is…" he said, shaking his head in stupefaction. He scoffed and looked back up to me. "This is amazing."

"I'm not even gonna ask how you did this, dude," Zack said, tilting his head at me, and looking back down at his Communicator. "But this is sweet!"

"Well it took a lot of math to figure out and some mild manipulation of the energy around us, and trying to harness that and-"

"Billy," Jason said, interrupting me. I nodded and stopped my rant.

Zack input the code for his own house, 004, and there was a brief flash of white light, as if all of us blinked, and suddenly, Zack was gone. We all looked to each other in surprise, even myself, as I thought it would have needed some fine tuning.

"Did...did it work?" Kimberly asked with a confused snicker.

"I assume so?" I said, not entirely sure.

All of a sudden, another flash came and Zack reappeared, laughing excitedly.

"That is awesome! I was back in front of my house and then, boom! Back here!" He shouted, cackling. He stuck out his hand and I shook it, him bringing me in for a hug. "You are freaking incredible, Billy."

I tried to pull back after a second, but Zack kept holding on. I tugged again and Zack let go and I gave him a flat smile, nodding to him as he laughed again and looked to his Communicator.

"Can I try?" Jason asked and I nodded, grabbing his Communicator from the bag. I handed it to him and he pushed the side button, the number pad sliding out. "What's the number for the Zords again?"

"020," I answered, looking over Jason's shoulder to see him punch in the number. Once again, the flash of light that lasted a millisecond appeared and Jason was no longer here.

"This is crazy!" We heard him shout, as he was only a little bit deeper in the ship and the sound travelled easily. The flash of light came again and Jason reappeared, breathing frantically out of pure disbelief. "That is insane," he laughed and I laughed back a little, still feeling proud and largely appreciated. I looked to Kim and Trini and handed them each their Communicators, the tint of the glass matching their Ranger colors. Kim put hers on around her wrist and inspected it, while Trini just fumbled it around in her hands.

"Also, it vibrates if Zordon wants us to come in for something. And we can talk to each other through them," I pointed out, lifting up my Communicator. "You hold down the button," I said and held it down. "And you guys can hear what I'm saying through your Communicators." My voice projected out through everyone's Communicators and they all laughed again, amazed. "So if one of us is ever in a hot spot or in trouble, we can just call. But, everyone can hear what you say over it, so...keep that in mind."

"Yeah, don't you lovebirds do your dirty talk over these things," Zack laughed, looking to Jason and Kim, who shook their heads.

"Billy you are a freaking genius," Kimberly changed the subject as she held down the button, her comment coming in and playing through all of our Communicators. Everyone chuckled again, but I forced a nervous chuckle before putting my Communicator on.

"Just…" I started to say and everyone looked to me. "Make sure you don't overuse it. I don't want these breaking." I carefully set down the bag containing the Green Communicator.

"Billy's right," Zordon said and we all then turned, looking to him on the wall. "These are for emergencies only, understood?"

"Yes, sir," Zack said and put his Communicator around his wrist, as did Jason and Trini.

"Master Zordon!" Alpha shouted, running back into the main Command Center. We all looked to him to see what the commotion was. "Master Zordon! I got it, I got a location!"

"On the Green Coin?" Zordon asked, his voice raising in interest.

"Yes! And it's _nearby_! Within a quarter mile radius of us _right now_!"

"Whoever has it is probably above the ship," Zordon said and looked to us, about to tell us to go back up to the surface, but Jason beat him to it.

"Yeah, we got it," Jason said and looked to us as I quickly put my backpack back on. We all ran out of the Command Center, heading back outside.

We exited the ship and reached the outside, looking around frantically.

"Everyone spread out, Tommy isn't far," Jason said in a low voice and Zack whispered back harshly.

" _Whoever_ has the Coin," Zack corrected. "Isn't far."

"Whatever, just look," Jason hissed back and we all dispersed, searching for anyone nearby. I hiked back up towards the cliff and turned my head back and forth, panning the area for anyone.

"Ok...come on, Green Ranger," I mumbled to myself in a near-silent voice. "Where are you? We need some help here and if you could just-" I stopped once I came to the cliff and saw someone sitting on the edge, looking out to the mountains, with a pair of large, white headphones on over a green baseball cap that was on backwards. I swallowed nervously, looking back for any other of my friends. I didn't see any, and turned back. "Hey," I said to the person, but they didn't hear. "Um...hey!" I said louder, but they still didn't hear. "He's got headphones on, Billy," I said to myself quietly and let out a shallow and shaky sigh, looking back again for the rest of my team. I saw Zack walking and he met my glance. I waved him over and he came over, stopping when he saw the person sitting on the cliff.

"Who is that?" He whispered and I shrugged.

"I don't know and I don't know what to do," I muttered back and Zack looked to the person on the cliff.

"Hey!" He shouted, but the person didn't turn around.

"Do you guys not see the gigantic pair of Beats on the guy?" Trini asked in a normal voice from behind us. We looked back to her, then to each other, and she shook her head at us before walking briskly to the guy on the cliff.

"Wait, Trin-Trini!" Zack whispered harshly and got up to follow her. Trini tapped on the guy's shoulder and then grabbed it as he jumped, quickly turning around. I saw her slip her other hand into his jacket pocket swiftly and she easily pulled out the Green Coin. It seemed to happen in slow motion, and I even had enough time to breath a sigh of relief that we had found it.

"What the hell!" He exclaimed, aggressively taking off his headphones. Trini waved him back and backed up from the edge of the cliff. The guy gave the three of us a confused look before standing up and throwing his palms up in confusion. "What do you want?" All of us seemed to recognize him at the same moment since we all had different reactions. Trini smiled widely, looking back to Zack and I, Zack groaned out and threw his head up towards the sky, groaning again, and I was just in pure shock.

"What?!" Tommy Oliver asked again, throwing his hat onto the ground, getting angry and scared. "You nearly scare me so much I fall off this cliff and then you don't even answer me?!"

I snapped out of my shock and turned around, cupped my hands and shouted. "Jason, Kimberly!"

Tommy briefly looked down and saw Trini holding the Coin in her palm and put his hand over his jacket pocket, just now realizing that she took it.

"Give that back!" Tommy yelled, pointing to the Coin. He took a step towards her and she backed up, raising her arm that held the Coin up and behind her.

"Easy, just hang tight," she said in a calm voice and Tommy took another step towards her, breathing heavily out of anger and fear.

"I said. Give. It. Back," he said dangerously. Tommy took another step and Zack quickly ran over, pushing him back towards the cliff.

"Back up," he scolded.

"Shit," Jason said and scoffed, looking to Zack. We all looked to him, seeing him and Kimberly on the small hill just behind the cliff. "I knew it! I told you guys! Didn't I tell you guys?!"

"Yeah, I get it, alright? You were-" Zack started to say, but quickly turned back around due to instinct and twisted Tommy's arm after Tommy tried to take another step. Tommy groaned out in pain and Jason ran over, as did I.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Jason said, breaking Zack off of Tommy. I waved Zack back and he looked around me, staring down Tommy.

"Zack, just back up a little," I said quietly and apprehensively. Jason blocked Tommy off and put his hands out in a non-threatening way. He looked back to Trini who tossed him the coin. Jason caught it, turned back to Tommy, and held it up to him.

"Where did you find this?" Jason asked smooth and reserved voice.

"It's mine," Tommy said back, not answering the question. Jason didn't say anything for a moment and Tommy scoffed, looking back to all of us before returning his glance to Jason. "Whaddya gonna do, Scott? Huh? You gonna rob me? Look, I'm sorry about your hand, ok? But-" Tommy started to say, but when he looked down at Jason's hand, he saw it free of bandages and scars and cuts. He stopped mid-sentence and stared at Jason's hand. "How did-"

"Tommy," Jason repeated. "Look at me." Tommy looked up to Jason again and Jason nodded to the Coin. "Where did you find this?"

Tommy hesitated and shrugged. "I didn't find it, ok? I swear. It just showed up in my room. Look, if you guys want it, just take it."

"This just appeared in your room?" Jason asked and I could hear the smile start to form on his face, knowing that we were getting closer. I looked back to everyone else and they were all watching Jason and Tommy intently. "You sure?"

"Yes, I promise," Tommy said, his voice starting to tighten up. "And it's been making me feel weird so just take it, ok?"

"Weird how?"

"Man, I don't know!" Tommy complained and looked down, shaking his head.

"Hey, Tommy, just...chill," Jason said, reaching under his shirt and pulling out his own Coin. Tommy stared at it and released an anxious sigh.

"You...have one?" He asked and Jason chuckled a little, nodding.

"Yeah, except mine is red in the middle here. See?" Jason held out his coin, pointing to the center. The red glow seemed to both amaze and confuse Tommy as he backed up a little, heading closer towards the cliff. I quickly pulled my Coin out too and held it up so Tommy could see.

"I got one too, Tommy," I said and Tommy looked to me, recognizing me.

"Billy Cranston?" He asked and looked to my Coin. "Why…"

Trini pulled out hers, then Kimberly, and finally Zack and they all held theirs up, showing Tommy. Tommy's mouth dropped wide open and he blinked furiously, trying to comprehend the situation.

"No way…" he said slowly. "Where did you guys even find _those_?"

Jason pointed just over the cliff to the quarry. "That mine right there." Jason looked back to the rest of us and I nodded eagerly, wanting him to finally tell Tommy our secret. "Tommy...we have these coins because we…" Jason sighed before continuing. "Are the Power Rangers. The Superheroes that saved Angel Grove a few weeks ago. And this Coin," Jason continued, holding up Tommy's Green Coin slightly, pointing to the green center. "Means that you are the Green Ranger and are part of this team."

Tommy licked his lips and cleared his throat, staring down at the ground, pondering all the information Jason just delivered. His brows slanted up in confusion and he looked up. "You're kidding, right? Scott, tell me you're messing with me."

"I'm not," Jason answered and let out a nervous scoff. "You said you've been feeling weird, right?" Jason asked and Tommy gave a small nod. "Yeah, we all did too when we first got these. The increase in speed, strength, reflexes?" Tommy gave another small nod and put his hands to his face, running them through his hair in bewilderment.

"So I really am a…" He started to say, but paused.

"Power Ranger," Kim mentioned, helping him out and Tommy nodded, lowering his hands.

"A Power Ranger?" Tommy confirmed and we all nodded.

"Yeah," Trini laughed, nodding. "You are."

"Ok…" Tommy said and breathed in deeply, putting a hand over his stomach. He breathed in again before bending down and picking up his hat, placing it back on his head in a backward fashion, and looked to all of us. "So...what now? Now that I'm a," Tommy stopped and cleared his throat again, puffing out his cheeks as he breathed out heavily. "Power Ranger."

"Well…" Jason said and turned to the rest of us. "We should probably go tell Zordon?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Zordon would wanna know."

"Well, duh," Jason laughed and looked to me. "Can you give Tommy his Communicator?"

"Yeah, yeah," I stammered out quickly, going into my backpack.

"What's a-" Tommy began to ask, but Jason held out a finger to him and shook his head. I dug around furiously in my backpack and looked back up to Jason.

"I, uh, might've left the bag with the Green Communicator in the ship."

Jason groaned a little, and everyone else snickered as Jason looked to Tommy, who looked to Jason eagerly.

"What'd he leave on what?" Tommy asked and became more frantic when Jason didn't answer right away. "What'd he leave behind?" Tommy repeated.

"Alright, Tommy, you gotta jump off this cliff, ok? There's water below, so you'll land ok."

"J-" Tommy stammered. "Jump off the _cliff?_ _What?!_ "

"Tommy, just plug your nose," Jason said and Tommy's eyebrows raised up again, and before he could react, Jason quickly pushed Tommy over the cliff and we all stayed still, waiting, until Tommy's yelling stopped before he splashed safely into the water below. Jason nodded to us and tossed Tommy's Coin to me. I fumbled for it a bit before locking my hand firmly onto it

"I'll meet you guys down there," Jason said and jumped off the cliff, following after Tommy.


	8. Chapter 8

(Tommy)

Water shot up my nose and it started to burn intensely, getting further into my sinuses as I tried to blow my nose. I felt someone grab my arm and opened my eyes, seeing Jason pulling me down deeper into the water. I started to pull back, not understanding why he was pulling me _deeper_ into the water, but Jason yanked my forcefully and closer to the bottom, only for my head to go through the water.

Through the water?

I reached a surface that seemed to be upside down and struggled to catch my breath, as I hadn't breathed and had been underwater since Jason pushed me off that cliff. Jason shot forward, coming completely out of the water and landing onto a solid, rock ground.

"Tommy, c'mon, push yourself out," Jason said, looking up at my head dangling out of the water.

"No! What the hell-" I began to say, but felt myself slip and I fell completely through the water and landed on my back on the hard floor. Jason grabbed my bicep and helped me up and I pushed him off, pushing him again by placing my hands on his upper chest and shoving him back.

"Why'd you push me?!" I shouted, coughing harshly to regain my breath, and Jason shook his head, not fighting back.

"You needed to get down here and you were hesitating. We really gotta introduce you to our mentor now that we know you're the Green Ranger," Jason said and started walking deeper into the...cave? I didn't know where we were, besides underground, but I reluctantly followed him, not wanting to be alone in this mysterious, damp, and dark place. I threw my arms down, shaking off the loose water, and looked up to Jason.

"Wait...you guys have been _looking_ for me?" I asked and Jason turned back, giving a slight nod.

"Yeah, for like two weeks."

"Well, I just saw you yesterday in gym. Why didn't you talk to me yesterday?" I asked and remembered his arm. "Wait, and how'd your hand heal so fast? A racket shattered in your palm!"

"Because I didn't know for sure that you were the Ranger until just today and when you have a Coin and are a Ranger," Jason continued, holding his Coin up to me while still walking forward. I hustled a little and fell in stride with him, walking next to him. "You heal quick. You become strong and fast and alert. That's why you've been feeling weird lately."

"Gotcha…" I said slowly and looked to Jason with readiness. "Wait, you have my Coin? Can I get it back?"

"Billy has it," Jason laughed and a door in front of us opened automatically. I jumped a little at the sudden sounds and Jason chuckled again.

"Well…" I said and walked through the large door, shooting my head back when it close behind us. Jason seemed totally comfortable and unphased by all this creepy cave stuff. "Where is Billy?"

"In here," Jason said and another door opened, revealing a large, open area that was mostly dark besides a holographic image in the middle that provided some light. A large wall was in front and there was a face on it.

A face!

I slowed my steps, falling out of stride with Jason and looked around the room, amazed and speechless. I turned around leisurely and looked up at the ceilings and walls, my mouth hanging open and my eyes bugged out. I finished my spin and looked back to the wall, seeing Jason join the others that I saw up on the cliff. They all talked briefly and then looked to me, waiting for me to walk the short steps down to join them. I recognized most of them, as I knew Jason and Kimberly Hart, and now Billy Cranston. The other two, the other girl and the Asian dude, I was not familiar with, however.

Slowly, though, the other girl's name started to come with me since she was in my history class.

"Trini, right?" I asked, looking to her and she smiled, nodding.

"How is it he knew my name the first time we meet but you all didn't?" Trini asked, looking to the others, in a tone that sounded like she was joking. I slowly walked down the steps and sighed, pointing to Billy.

"Billy Cranston." I tilted my head to Kimberly, giving her a small smile. "And Kimberly Hart." I kept looking to Kimberly, giving her another smile and was surprised to find both her and Jason here with these...other kids. But, this all started to make some more sense, as I saw these five talk after detention.

"Uh, excuse me," the Asian guy said and I quickly realized he was the one who twisted my arm. I faced him and stood up straight, sizing him up a bit. "I believe you forgot about me?"

"I don't know you," I answered honestly and pointed to him dangerously. "But I do know you're the guy who bent my arm up there and I really didn't appreciate that."

I started to trek over to him and he raised an eyebrow, him beckoning me over with both hands and ready to fight, but Trini pushed the guy back.

"Zack, stop, it wouldn't even be a fair fight, Tommy doesn't have his Coin right now," she said quietly, but loud enough for me to hear.

"All of you, enough," the face said loudly, his voice booming off the walls. I jumped again at the loud, sudden noise and quickly looked to the face, feeling my brows contort into a confused slant.

"Wh...You can talk? Who...Who are you?" I asked. "What is going on?!"

"I am Zordon, and that is Alpha 5," the face, Zordon, said and nodded over to the side. I slowly turned and looked over, seeing a small robot-like creature waving.

"Welcome, Green Ranger!" It, or he, or whatever it was, said in a cheery voice. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, exhaling deeply as well. I glanced back and sat down, looking up to Jason.

"Please explain," I said to him and he gave a pitiful smile before crouching down to tell me about what exactly a 'Power Ranger' is and why I was even here.

(Kimberly)

 _I walked through downtown Angel Grove and, for some reason, everything was completely fixed. The buildings were repaired, the streets repaved, and everything seemed as if it was back to normal. I continued to walk, only to notice that the streets were empty. No one was walking, which I thought was weird, especially since it was after school. After the school day ended, the downtown area was usually teeming with at least a little bit of life, if not a lot._

 _But the streets were completely empty and I felt my face contort to a confused expression. I stopped walking, turning around and scanning the town carefully with my eyes for any sign of life. I saw nothing and sighed, turning back to the way I was originally facing._

 _However, when I turned back, I noticed a figure that was maybe one-third of a mile ahead of me. I quickly walked over to them, even going so far as to run part of the way towards them, and slowed once I came within a few steps._

" _Excuse me," I said softly, wanting to see who this person was, as their back was turned to me. I could tell it was a woman since she had long hair and her body figure was that of a woman. "Do you know where everyone is?"_

 _She slowly turned around and I felt my heart drop to my stomach when I recognized her as Rita._

" _Yes, Kimberly," she hissed, my heart rate increasing dramatically when she said my name. "Everyone is dead."_

 _I quickly looked to my wrist and backed up from Rita, but my Communicator was not on my wrist. I looked back up to Rita who gave an evil grin as suddenly, Tommy was right beside her. I felt myself just barely start to ask Tommy why she was with Rita, but something to the left of Rita caught my attention. Just behind her, I saw my team lying there motionless with blood surrounding them._

 _They were dead._

 _Their bodies appeared cold and contorted, and began to rot before my very eyes. Trini, Zack, Billy, and...Jason..._

" _No!" I shouted, my throat beginning to tighten. Rita pounced towards me after letting out an evil cackle._

 _I felt myself trying to morph, but it was too late._

My scream carried on until my eyes shot open.

I sprung up, sitting up straight, and fought to catch my breath. I breathed many quick, shallow breaths and reached for my left wrist, feeling my Communicator safely wrapped around it. I looked down towards my comforter and took multiple more hollow and unsteady breaths before sucking in a deep swallow of air, exhaling it slowly. I did it one more time and finally controlled my breathing. I closed my eyes for a moment and looked up. Just in front of the wall I was facing, I could faintly make out a silhouette in my room. I felt myself freeze, staring at whoever was in my room and I heard them breath. Not even daring to breath myself, I reached for my phone with great speed phone and turned it on, pointing the light towards the silhouette. For a second, just a small second, I thought I saw her.

I thought I saw Rita.

But then, it was as if there was nothing there. She seemed to be there one second.

But then the next, she was gone.

She had to have been there since there was no way my eyes could play tricks that complex on me.

Not to mention that I definitely heard her breath before she disappeared

I hastily unlocked my phone and called Jason.

"Pick up, pick up…" I whispered as I heard his phone continue to ring. "Please pick up."

His phone went to voicemail and I looked at the time on my phone, reading that it was 1:02 in the morning. I sighed, shaking my head to myself.

None of them would be up at this time.

I went to my window and double checked that it was locked before going over to my lamp, turning it on, and going back to my bed. I crouched on it, grabbing my Coin off of my end table, and clutched it tightly close to my chest. My eyes darted from my door to my window, door to my window, door to my window, and so on.

And I planned to do this all night, because the more I thought about it, the quicker I came to the realization that Rita Repulsa had just been in my room.

(Zack)

I checked my phone, seeing it was 1:30, and looked up. Kim's car pulled into the lot, the gravel rolling around under her tires. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and waited as she got out of her car.

"Any day now, Kim-ber-ly!" I joked, stretching out her name. She furrowed her brows at me as she approached and quickly hushed me.

"Sh! It's the middle of the night," she whispered firmly and I laughed, tilting my head.

"Yeah but there's no one living around here," I said, raising my voice and extending my arms out. "We can yell all we want! Woo!" I laughed again, expecting Kim to laugh back, even if it was an annoyed and forced laugh, but she just looked over her shoulder anxiously. My smile wore down as I dropped my arms and I became sincere, knowing that something must be very wrong for her to call me in the middle of the night. "Hey, what's wrong? Why'd you wanna meet up?"

"I just...didn't wanna be alone," she answered, looking back to me, her expression clearly unnerved and restless. "I tried calling Jason, but he didn't answer. I figured you'd...maybe be awake."

I paused before nodding towards the train where I'd sit at and she looked to me, following me over to it. I led her to the ladder and let her climb up first, coming up myself after she reached the top. She waited for me to get up and followed me over to the edge where I usually sat. I plopped down, letting my legs hang off the ledge, and she did the same.

"What happened? Something with your parents?" I asked and she shook her head.

"No, no…" she answered quietly and looked forward, creasing her eyebrows. "I, um...I had a nightmare. A really, really bad nightmare." She paused and I waited patiently for her to continue. Normally, in almost any situation, I'd try to make a joke to lighten the setting. But, based on how rattled and unhinged Kim seemed to be, I decided it'd be best to be serious this time. "I saw Rita and she, uh...she said she had killed everyone in the town. For some reason, Tommy was-was right next to her...and behind her…" Kim continued, her voice breaking as she sniffled, a tear falling down her cheek. "Behind her was all of you guys...you...all of you were dead. You were just all...lying there...and I..." She sniffled again, her nose becoming clotted due to her trying not to cry, and she took a deep breath. She closed her eyes, inhaled a deep breath of air again, and blew it out slowly before looking to me.

"You said that...Tommy was next to her?" I asked, confused about that part.

She nodded. "And when I woke up," Kim said, her voice nearly back to normal. She quickly wiped her cheeks at any tears that had fallen and it almost looked as if she hadn't even just cried even one tear. "I saw her in my _room_. I saw _Rita_ ," Kim told me, her voice becoming more firm. She bit her inner lip and pursed her lips, almost seeming a bit angry.

"Are-" I stuttered, surprised. "Are you sure? You sure she was there?"

"Yeah," Kim said, looking back out to the view we had from atop the train. "I heard her and I saw her. She left as soon as I got a light on her, but...she was there."

"And then you called Jason?" I asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, but when he didn't answer, I...I tried to stay up for a little bit. I sat on my bed and prepared to stay up all night, because with that nightmare and Rita in my room...I was _not_ about to fall asleep again. But...as the first few minutes went by, I got this weird feeling," she said and lowered her voice a little, looking back to me. "Like someone was watching me. And that went on for almost ten minutes, so then I called you because I just couldn't sit in my room alone after that. I would've gone insane."

I sat in silence, pondering what she told me. I pursed my lips and nodded, looking to her. "If something like that happened to me, I wouldn't want to be alone." I paused and looked down. "Did Rita say anything, or do anything?"

"No…she was just standing there, watching me," Kimberly said, her voice breaking again as it got even lower. She looked to me and her eyes were glassy. "That's what scared me the most. She was _right there_ , and _could've_ attacked me, but...she didn't." She shook her head and looked down. "I just...the dream...it seemed so _real_. For a second, before I woke up...I thought you guys-" she said, her voice giving out. A tear fell and she sniffled. "I thought you guys really were dead." The two of us sat in silence and she quickly let out an embarrassed laugh after a few seconds, wiping away the tear on her cheek almost immediately. "Sorry, the wetworks are embarrassing," she laughed and I gave her a sympathetic smile back.

I sighed, putting my arm around Kim and squeezed lightly, giving her a friendly and comforting hug. I rubbed my hand up and down her arm and then spoke.

"Thank you for calling," I said, already knowing that she didn't want to call anyone except Jason. I knew she felt most comfortable with him, everyone did. Not that she didn't feel comfortable with the rest of us, but it was just that Jason made her feel _especially_ comfortable. And that was totally fine, as I was more comfortable around Trini than Jason, for example. I just didn't want her to show me a side to her that she didn't want me to see. Like, right now, I was seeing a vulnerable side to the strong-minded and strong-willed Kim I always knew and it was hard for her. If I reassured her on her choice, though, hopefully that would make her feel better. "I hope everyone else on the team, even Tommy, calls if they ever don't feel safe."

I removed my arm and Kim nodded, and I knew she appreciated that comment.

"Let's...let's just talk about something else," Kim said and looked to me. "How's your mom?"

"She's, y'know, hanging in," I answered, tilting my head. I felt my own throat begin stiffen as I suddenly felt the urge to cry. I quickly cleared my throat and shook my head. "I just wish she didn't have to lie there...all day." I felt a tear escape and wiped at it, but Kim saw it before I could rid of the evidence. "The little bit of time she has left, she just spends basically as a vegetable. She can't do anything on her own." Another tear fell and I quickly covered it up with a laugh and tried to change the subject, not liking how it felt to be so vulnerable. "Why are we so emotional right now?" I joked and Kim got a laugh out of that one.

"No idea," she answered and patted my back. "I'm sorry for bringing it up though." I nodded, silently thanking her and she sighed. "And all this crying stays between the two of us, deal?"

I sniffled again and chuckled. "Deal."


	9. Chapter 9

(Jason)

"Training is the foundation to making a successful Power Ranger," said Zordon, his voice booming and echoing off the walls of the Pit. Tommy looked up with a half-worried, half-confused look on his face. He spent the last three days training, taking on Putties and was a quick study. Not to mention that his first morph was on his second day of training and he could now do it at free will, like the rest of us.

We were all surprised at first, but Zordon gave an explanation as to how and why that was happening. Not only did Tommy have help from the four of us, but he was the Green Ranger. Even with Zordon's team, the Green Ranger was always the strongest and quickest learner, since the Green Coin was the most powerful amongst all the Coins. I'd be lying if I wasn't a little bit intimidated by the fact that Tommy was now naturally stronger than me due to his Coin, but I was just more happy that he was part of the team. He got along with everyone for the most part, except Zack, as the two were still a bit stiff and cold around each other. But, other than that, Tommy was an excellent fit.

However, there was one odd thing. Occasionally, like a few times yesterday and once earlier today, Tommy unintentionally morphed when fighting the training Putties despite us telling him to train without morphing, as it helped more in the long run. None of us thought anything of it, but Zordon seemed slightly troubled by the thought.

"I have been training," Tommy said, raising his arms in wonder.

"Against Putties which are simple simulations," Zordon said and I looked to my team, confused, as even I didn't know what Zordon was going to suggest next for Tommy. "Today, you learn what it is actually like to fight against a real opponent."

I felt my own brows raise and we all stood in silence for a few seconds before Kimberly spoke up. "He's going to fight one of us?"

"Precisely."

"Who?" Zack asked with a laugh.

"You all decide who will spar with the Green Ranger," Zordon said back and I looked to Zack.

"You were so quick to fight him that first day we found out he was the Green Ranger, you go," I suggested and Zack tilted his head at me.

"You're the best fighter out of all of us, buddy," Zack said and I rolled my eyes, shaking my head.

"C'mon Jason," Trini encouraged sarcastically and Kim raised her arms up.

"Woo!" she cheered and I rolled my eyes again, smiling and shaking my head, looking down sheepishly

"Ja-son, Ja-son," Billy started to chant and I stuck my hand out, stopping him.

"Alright, alright, alright," I said and peeled off my jacket, looking to Tommy. "No morphing, no weapons."

"Fisticuffs, I like it," Tommy smiled and I smiled back, laughing a little. I shook out my wrists and swung my arms back, stretching them out.

"I got $15 on Tommy," I heard Zack joke and I looked back to him, raising an eyebrow.

"What the hell?" I asked with a chuckle and Zack shrugged.

"He's good, dude," Zack laughed defensively, motioning to Tommy.

"I'll take that bet," I heard Kim say when I turned back to face Tommy and I smiled, knowing that she'd take my side. I put my hands up and balled them into loose fists as Tommy did the same thing.

"Remember what you have learned," Zordon told Tommy and I kept my eyes on him. I liked the guy, but during his training sometimes, he'd get just a little overzealous and cocky and I wanted to remind him of how he should be a bit more modest and humble. And I also wanted to remind him who was in charge "Jason Scott is no Putty and will prove to be a much harder foe."

"Got it," Tommy said, keeping his eyes on me.

I did little hops on my feet to remind myself to keep my feet moving as I motioned for Tommy to come at me first. Tommy hesitated and quickly ran up, throwing a side kick with his left leg. I easily blocked it and already knew a right punch was coming, simply grabbing his right fist and ducking the punch from his left. I sprung back up and connected my right fist to his jaw, releasing his right hand from my left. He stumbled back and I took the opportunity to be on the attack, kicking his stomach and then going to upper kick his jaw, but he blocked my kick and I used my left leg to kick his jaw. It connected and he groaned out. He got back in his stance but I could tell it was a bit sloppy due to his feet. He brought his right fist forward to jab and I blocked it, using my left leg to sweep under his right leg and knocking him flat on his back. I got over him and raised my fist, him wincing before I delivered the blow, and I stopped, knowing that I had already won. I heard cheers from behind me, as our team was clapping for the both of us, and stood up straight. I reached my arm out to Tommy and he grabbed it, but he swept his own leg just under my knee and knocked me onto my back as well. I let out a laugh and quickly got up to my feet, as did Tommy.

"Not giving up so easily, huh?" I asked with a laugh and Tommy didn't answer, his demeanor appearing...almost angry, in a way. I kept my focus, however, and threw a punch. He grabbed it and pushed that arm over my chest so strongly, completely turning my body to the side. He raised his other hand to punch my side and I braced for the blow, but just before he hit me, I saw him morph instantaneously and now prepared for a more painful blow.

It didn't feel just like any punch, however.

It felt as if a hole had just formed in my side and it burned greatly, stinging as well. I felt something leave the inside of my body and it felt like painful pins and needles all over my side.

"Ah!" I shouted and hobbled back when Tommy let go. "Oh shit, ow!"

The pain was a pain that I had never felt before and I stumbled to the wall, leaning against it, as I struggled to catch my breath. My team quickly ran over and I slumped against the wall, reaching for my side that was still burning and put my hand over it. My hand became wet and warm and I held my hand out in front of me, seeing it covered in blood.

"Oh my god!" Kimberly exclaimed, crouching down and putting a hand on the back of my neck. She looked dangerously to Tommy. "You guys said no morphing!"

"Tommy!" Zordon's voice boomed. I looked past my team and ignored their questions towards me and looked to Tommy. He demorphed and looked lost for a moment before seeing me against the wall.

"Jason!" he exclaimed and ran over to me. Zack got in front of Tommy and prevented him from reaching me.

"Are you crazy?" Zack asked Tommy and turned to Kim, Billy, and Trini. "You guys all saw what he did! He stabbed Jason! He used...whatever his weapon is on Jason, Zordon!"

I looked over to Tommy whose mouth was open in worry and shock, his eyes pleading at me. "I...I don't know what happened...I didn't even," Tommy said slowly and in a quiet voice. Kimberly quickly ran over to where we brought our own supplies and grabbed gauze. "I don't even remember morphing…"

I winced and looked back down to my wound as Kim and Billy carefully lifted up my shirt, peeling it off of the sticky, bloody wound. I groaned as they cleaned it and put the gauze around it, but looked back up to Tommy. He looked past Zack and straight at me. "Jason, man, I am so sorry." His voice started to choke up and I realized he was genuine. Whether he meant to morph or not, he certainly didn't mean to stab me with his Dagger. It was a mistake that he made. A painful, painful mistake, but still a mistake nevertheless. "I don't have any idea what even happened."

"Hey," I groaned out, slowly standing up.

"Jason, take it slow," Billy frantically warned and I patted Tommy's shoulder.

"It's ok, don't worry about it. It was an accident," I said and forced a smile, ignoring the pain in my stomach. I stumbled a bit, collapsing to the ground and Kim quickly caught me, as did Billy, and they both helped me back to my feet as I turned my head and spit out some blood.

"Jason," Kim warned and held onto me as I sighed and sat back down slowly.

"Training is done for today," Zordon said and Tommy looked down, his face turning even more red. "Everyone go home and come back tomorrow."

I gave Tommy another forced and reassured smile before he quickly exited the Command Center, wanting to be the first one to leave due to embarrassment.

"You sure you're good, dude?" Zack asked, pointing to me. I nodded and stifled another pained groan.

"I'll be fine. It won't heal as quick, but I'll be alright. I just need to sit for a bit," I answered and Zack nodded, heading for the exit.

"Zack," Zordon said and Zack turned back, walking back to the rest of us. As he came back, Kim looked to me and kneeled down, putting her hand back up to the back of my neck, caressing my cheek with her thumb.

"Are you sure you're ok?" she asked and I nodded, smiling at her.

"I'm fine," I groaned out, which was a total lie. Although the pain was somewhat manageable, it still hurt severely and I knew that it could've been fatal.

"This is the fifth time Tommy has unintentionally morphed in two days," Zordon said and we all nodded, remembering how he did yesterday against the Putties and earlier today.

"Yeah, but Zordon," I started. "You saw his face. He didn't mean to hurt me." I motioned to my bloody side and Zordon nodded. "And, besides, he's new. He doesn't know how to control his morphing yet."

"I know, he didn't mean to, but…"

"Wait, sir, you don't think-" Alpha began to say, stepping up towards Zordon.

"That's exactly what I think," Zordon answered and the five of us exchanged confused glances with each other.

"What do you think?" Trini asked and Zordon sighed.

"Even though Rita is no longer in possession of the Green Coin, she can still…"

"Still what?" Zack asked, pushing for an answer.

"She can still have control over it," Zordon answered and we all stood there, shocked. "She had it with her for millions of years. Even though she didn't utilize it until a few weeks ago, she is still somewhat part of the Coin. If she had a spell that she implemented on the Coin when she awoke, it is very possible that she can control the Coin and control the owner of the Coin."

"So…" Kim asked. "Rita is controlling Tommy?"

"Not yet," Alpha said. "But...it seems like she is just starting to."

Zack and Kim exchanged worried glances with each other and I quickly caught it. "What?" I asked, looking from Zack to Kim. They both looked down and I asked again, more intent on finding the answer. "What?!"

"I…" Kim started to say, looking back up to the rest of us. "I had a dream, well...nightmare...a few nights ago. It was the first night that we knew Tommy was our Green Ranger and in my nightmare…" she paused and briefly looked back up to Zack, clearing her throat and shaking her head, closing her eyes. "Tommy was with Rita. They were standing right by each other and he wasn't trying to get away from her." Kim paused again and looked back up to us, opening her eyes. "And when I woke up, Rita was in my room."

"She was in your room?!" Billy asked and Kim nodded. "Did she do anything?"

"No," Kim said and continued on. "But Tommy was with her in my dream and now she's controlling him. That's not a coincidence, right?"

"She was taunting you," Zordon said and looked to Kim and then to all of us. "Taunting all of you."

"So, what do we do about Tommy? We take his coin away, one of us trade with him or something?" Trini suggested and Alpha quickly shook his head.

"No, no, no, no one else can possess his Coin and utilize its power. It...doesn't work that way."

"All we can do," Zordon spoke up. "Is watch him. He doesn't train anymore. We don't need him getting stronger and more dangerous before we break Rita's spell."

"But...Zordon," I said, hobbling up to him with Kim helping me. I straightened myself out. "How is he gonna defend himself if Rita or Zedd come after him?"

"If he becomes too well trained," Alpha said, coming up to us. "Then it will be much harder to defeat Rita and Zedd with Tommy on their side." I looked down in sorrow, not wanting Tommy to be completely defenseless. Although he was a bit arrogant during the past few training days, he was a great guy with his heart in the right place.

He didn't deserve this.

"I'm sorry Jason," Zordon said and I looked back up to him. "But it's safer for everyone, including Tommy, if he no longer trains. Now...you all head home."

We all nodded and I slowly looked up, my team all looking to me and waiting. I caught their glances and scoffed.

"Just meet at my house," I said and held my wrist in front of me, looking at my Communicator. I typed in 001 and was quickly in front of my house. I stumbled a bit and clutched my side, bending over. I saw the rest of my team appear in front of my house and they all looked to me, Kim coming up and helping me sit down on the bench in the front of my house.

"Are you sure you're ok, Jason?" Billy asked and I smiled, nodding.

"I'll be fine. It doesn't hurt that much anymore. It'll be better in a day or two once I get some rest," I answered and Trini crossed her arms, looking down.

"What do we do about Tommy? Is he still gonna come down to the Pit with us?" She asked and I nodded.

"Remember when I said no one goes anywhere alone?" I asked and everyone nodded. "Well now I mean it. Including Tommy. Someone text him and tell him what I said."

"You want us...to be near Tommy? Even if we're alone with him?" Zack asked and I nodded again. "Jason, the guy is dangerous. He stabbed you!"

"He didn't mean to," I said back, raising my voice. Tommy was one of the best and nicest guys I knew, even if I didn't know him that well before he was the Green Ranger. No matter what happened, Tommy would always remember that he was a Ranger that was fighting for good. "He's strong-minded. No matter what Rita does, he'll be able to fight it."

"Jason, I don't think-" Kim started to say.

"You saw how quick he apologized today," I said, not wanting to believe that Tommy would ever fully turn on us. "He's a Ranger too, now, and that means he's a target for Rita. I don't care if one person is with him or two, he doesn't go anywhere in public alone. Just like the rest of us. Understood?"

"Yeah," Trini nodded.

"Got it," Billy said and I looked to Zack who reluctantly nodded.

"Ok," I said and sighed. "I'll see you guys tomorrow. Be careful, please."

The three of them nodded and Zack looked back to Kim, pointing at her.

"You owe me $15," he joked and I laughed, wheezing a little after laughing pretty hard. Kim had an unamused expression on her face and shook her head, the three of them walking away and down the street. I looked back to Kim, who was crouched beside me.

"You never told me about that nightmare you had," I pointed out and she looked down, biting her lip. I scooched over and made room for her on the bench, ignoring the gnawing pain in my wound. She sat down next to me and nodded.

"I tried to call you that night, but you didn't answer. I didn't even think it was a big deal until now, now that Tommy is...changing."

"How long ago was it? Three nights?"

"Yeah, the same day we found out it was Tommy with the Green Coin," she answered and looked to me.

"And Rita was in your room?"

"Mhm," she nodded. "It was so unnerving and I didn't want to just sit there by myself so I called Zack. Him and I hung out for a little."

"That's good," I said and knitted my brows in a sympathetic slant. "I'm glad you took my advice and weren't alone. I'm sorry that I didn't pick up."

"Oh, it's...it's fine…but," she said. "Zordon was right. The nightmare and Rita in my room, it was a taunt. She was, in a weird way, warning me about Tommy. As if it was some kind of game." Kim looked back down and scoffed, shaking her head. "I just didn't realize it meant something until Zordon explained what might happen to Tommy."

"We should probably tell Tommy about what Rita might try," I said and Kim nodded.

"Right now?" She asked.

"Yeah," I said and slowly pulled out my phone from my jacket pocket. I called Tommy and he picked up on the first ring.

"Scott, I'm so sorry again, man. I've been trying to focus on morphing when I want and-"

"Tommy," I said with a little laugh. "It's ok, dude. Just come to my house, ok? We need to talk."

"Yeah, yeah, sure thing," he eagerly said and hung up. Thirty seconds or so later, a flash appeared for a brief moment and Tommy stood in front of Kimberly and I, his eyes soft and worried.

(Trini)

"Alright, detention is dismissed," the teacher announced and I quickly sprung out of my chair, heading up the steps of the detention room. I exited the school and turned back, seeing the rest of my team exit as well. Jason nodded over to the side and we followed him, slowing down to still let him be in front since he was still wounded from yesterday.

"Training, right now," he said and we all nodded. "I might have to sit out today, though."

"Wait," I said, and looked to Jason and Zack, since Zack drove me to detention. "Cool if I run home and grab a change of clothes?"

Jason nodded. "Yeah, no problem. We'll see you guys there."

Jason, Kimberly, Billy, and Tommy all went to Jason's car, as they all drove together, while Zack and I headed to his car.

Now that Jason told us no one goes anywhere alone and Tommy knew how he could possibly be dangerous, since Kim and Jason told him yesterday, he told us that at least two of us needed to be by him if he was still going to hang around us, since he didn't want one of us to be alone with him if he was being controlled by Rita. We all tried to get him not to worry, even Zack, but Tommy was very fearful that he would end up hurting one of us like he did to Jason yesterday. Jason's wound was healing nicely already, but it was still a scare for all of us.

I got into Zack's car and he did too, starting the engine and turning on the radio. "Ready for a rematch today?" Zack asked, putting on his sunglasses and smiling, pulling out of the parking lot.

"Yeah," I scoffed. "And you're going to lose…again."

"You keep telling yourself that, Crazy Girl."

I smiled again and shook my head, glancing over to Zack, who was focused on the road at the moment. He caught my look and looked over to me, and I quickly looked straight.

"What?" He asked and I just shook my head again.

"Nothing."

"Nothing...is ever nothing," he said in a deep voice and I chuckled, throwing a hand up in confusion.

"What does that even mean?"

"I don't know, just sounds like something Zordon would say," he laughed and I laughed again. His laughing stopped and he cleared his throat. "But seriously, what's up?"

"What…" I started to ask slowly. "What do we do if and when Tommy turns again? I mean, it only happened yesterday, but it's bound to happen again."

I slightly glanced back over to Zack who pursed his lips in thought and silence. He made a left turn and shrugged. "Not sure." I rubbed my forehead in thought and sighed. "I really don't wanna think about that right now. The best we can do is watch Tommy."

I shrugged back, not necessarily agreeing with the simple plan, but also not having much of a better idea as to what we should do about Tommy. We couldn't just leave him, as he was a Ranger and part of the team, but I was also worried for when he would lose control again. And this time, maybe it would be even worse than what happened to Jason.

Zack pulled into my driveway and put the car into park. I looked back to Zack. "I'll just be a minute."

"Take your time," Zack said and I exited the car, heading up my driveway and entering the house. I took two steps up the stairs before hearing my mom.

"Who's that who's always driving you around?" she asked, looking out the window towards Zack's car. I stopped on the steps, rolling my eyes and turned around with reluctance.

"One of my friends," I answered vaguely and I saw her nod in the reflection of the window. She turned around and crossed her arms at me.

"When are you going to let your father and I meet your friends?" She questioned and I scoffed.

"Never? Unless they come over?" I said and started to walk back up the stairs.

"Why can't we meet them?" she asked again and I brought myself to a halt again, turning back around.

"Because I'm not some little kid, mom," I said back and quickly went into my room, grabbing a bag and stuffing in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"He's kinda cute!" I heard him shout and I bit the inside of my cheek in frustration.

"He's just a friend," I said back, which wasn't entirely true. There were certain feelings I had for Zack and I didn't know what to do about them. Whether that be to act on them or to ignore them. However, I did not want my mom knowing that, as that would only bring on another entirely new series of questions, which I wanted to part of.

"Were you guys just at breakfast?"

"Sure," I yelled back and exited my room, hustling down the steps and opening the door. "Bye, mom."

She stopped me from opening the door all the way and looked to me with a firm look. "I want to come out and meet this young man since you never tell me anything about him or your other 'friends.'"

I rolled my eyes and just opened the door, not objecting since I knew she would never stop pestering. I heard her following quickly behind me and I got into Zack's car as my mom went to his window. He gave her a smile and rolled it down.

"Good morning, Mrs. Kwan," he said and I felt myself look over to him in pure shock at how polite and sophisticated his voice sounded.

"Good morning…" my mom started to say, but looked to me, waiting for me to give her Zack's name.

"Zack," I said and looked forward again.

"Zack," my mom said and I heard the smile in her voice.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Zack said again with immense charm.

"Thank you, it is so nice to meet you as well," my mom chirped. "Where did you kids go for breakfast this morning?"

"Mom, we really have somewhere to be," I interrupted, looking over to her.

"Oh? Where are you headed?"

"On a hike," Zack easily said and my mom smiled.

"Well, I won't keep the two of you waiting," my mom said and backed up a little.

"Goodbye, Mrs. Kwan," Zack said and waved, rolling up his window. My mom waved back and Zack shifted into reverse, pulling the car out.

"Thanks," I said in a quiet voice due to mild embarrassment and Zack nodded.

"Nooo problemo," he said in a casual voice and stayed silent until we reached a red light. "Does your mom, like, think we're a thing?" He asked and I looked to him, furrowing my brows in mild confusion. He looked back to me and tilted his head. "Because I can totally play along, y'know, if you need me to."

I chuckled a little and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." I answered and saw Zack smile a little out of the corner of my eye.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you so much for all of the positive reviews! I absolutely love reading them and I'm so glad you guys are enjoying the story! I will try to update a bit more often also!**

(Billy)

"Today you use your weapons," Zordon told us once we reached the Pit and I clapped my hands together in an excited fashion. Jason looked back to all of us, struggling to keep his smile hidden.

"It's morphin' time," he said and fought the urge to smile.

Kim, Trini, and I laughed and Zack scoffed, rolling his eyes. "It doesn't sound cool when we're about to train. It just sounds cheesy."

Jason let out a little laugh, and we all morphed, feeling the armour cover by bodies, inch by inch. Their visors disappeared, as did mine. Jason's Power Sword materialized in his hand and Zack began laughing.

"Woah-hoh-hoh," he said, a large smile on his face. "Can I try using that?"

"You got your own thing," Jason said, none of us knowing what Zack's special weapon was yet. No one else had used their weapon yet and we were all a little curious to see what everyone else's weapons were. A large, black axe materialized in Zack's hand and he looked to Jason, flipping it in his hand and catching it easily by the handle. "You got an axe, that's pretty cool," I encouraged and Zack gave a modest shrug. A pink and white bow appeared in Kim's hands and all of us had the same, amazed reaction.

"Yo, that is awesome!" Zack exclaimed and we all went over to Kim, Zack looking over her shoulder and examining her bow.

"Where…" Trini asked, walking over and glancing at Kim's back, not seeing a quiver present. "Where are the arrows?" She gave a small shrug and Zack laughed a little. He set his axe down on the ground and grabbed the bow from her hands, looking to us.

"Maybe you just use it like _this_ ," Zack said and grabbed the upper limb with both hands and began to swing it down. Kim, Jason, and Trini laughed a little but, suddenly, Zack shouted out in pain and dropped the bow, backing up from it. "Ow!" He looked to his hands and shook them out.

"What happened?" I asked as Kim picked up her bow.

"It burned my hands!"

"You can not use each other's weapons," Zordon announced and we all looked up, towards the sound of his voice.

"Well, you coulda told me that before," Zack scoffed and Jason pointed to Zack's axe that was on the cave floor.

"I told you, you have your own thing."

A large, blue and white lance appeared in my right hand, with sharp spikes on both ends, and I gave a hoot.

"Woo!" I shouted.

"What is that?" Zack asked, looking to my weapon.

"It's a javelin," Kim answered.

"Actually, it's a lance," I told them and looked to Jason with excitement. "Jason, I got a lance, look!"

"I see it, Billy," Jason laughed, looking at my weapon. Two daggers formed in Trini's hands, one in each hand, and she twirled the one in her left hand, inspecting them.

"I got daggers!" She exclaimed.

"Isn't that Tommy's weapon?" Zack asked, looking over to Tommy.

Tommy sat against a rock nearby, simply watching us train with a frown on his face. His hands were tied together by special handcuffs as a precaution for today.

Four days since we found out Tommy is slowly being controlled by Rita and Zedd and it has only gotten worse. Four days ago, he stabbed Jason with his Dagger which wasn't a pretty sight, but it wasn't entirely life-threatening either. Jason was still complaining about his side being sore and sat out of training the day after he was stabbed, but was back to training the day after. Three days ago, however, Tommy attacked Trini out of the blue just as her and Zack got back with her change of clothes and also tried to attack Alpha. Two days ago, Tommy morphed involuntarily and, although he was fine and calm, he couldn't demorph, no matter how hard he tried for hours. And yesterday, Tommy nearly broke Zack's wrist and it took Jason, Trini, and Kim to pry him off. Today, right as we arrived for training, Zordon ordered us to bind Tommy's wrists and have two people constantly watch him, while the other three trained. We'd rotate, but during mine and Trini's watch earlier, Tommy began morphing and I reacted quickly by splashing an open bottle of water on him, not knowing if it would even work or not. He snapped out of it and seemed to be fine ever since, but we all knew that we couldn't just throw water on him and hope for the best.

We were all extremely worried about Tommy hurting one of us, but Jason told us we shouldn't be worried. Tommy was our teammate and we were going to keep him with us at all times, as to not let Rita and Zedd get to him.

"Yeah, but you got two small ones. Tommy has a big one," I said back.

Kim began to tug a little at the string and an arrow appeared on the rest. However, she wasn't expecting it, and released the string before realizing the arrow had appeared and fired it near Jason's leg. He quickly caught it thanks to pure reflex and gave her a surprised look. He dropped the arrow and chuckled, shaking his head at her.

"You trying to take me out or something?" He joked and she chuckled back.

"I'm so sorry!" She quickly apologized after her small giggle. "I didn't know they just appeared when I pulled back."

Zack spoke up, changing the topic.

"Bring on the Putties!" He shouted, and five training Putties rose from the ground. He pushed past Kim and I, who were near the front of the team, and spun the axe in his hand. "I got first."

The four of us exchanged half-annoyed, half-amused glances before watching Zack swing his axe across the head of the closest Putty, ducking a punch from the second, and hitting that Putty directly in the stomach. I glanced over to Jason, who pursed his lips, impressed, as Zack easily seemed to be one with his weapon, just like how I already felt with mine even though I just now saw it. He received a blow from the third Putty and I winced a little at the sight, as it looked like it hurt. Zack recovered quickly, however, and hit the same Putty with his axe in an uppercut fashion, the Putty's head exploding on impact from the axe. Zack switched his grip to clutching the handle of the axe with both hands. By accident, it seemed, the bottom of his axe slid down a bit and a purple blast came from the bottom of his axe, colliding with the ground and sending the remaining two Putties flying; as well as Zack. We all watched as he flew back into a cave wall, sliding down and landing face first on the ground.

"Zack!" Jason shouted and we quickly ran over, even Tommy. Kim bent down, the rest of us staring in shock at Zack's motionless body.

"Zack?!" Kim shouted and shook him. " _Zack_?!" she repeated, more frantic.

"That…" Zack started to say, his voice slightly muffled from being face down. I breathed a sigh of relief that he was ok. "Was awesome!" he finished and pushed himself up, Kim standing up as well. Zack began to laugh and everyone else laughed back, including me, a bit nervous and forced as I wanted to ask Zack if he was ok. "Oh, man! That was like...that was like a cannon!"

"A cannon?" Trini asked with a scoff and Zack nodded eagerly.

"Like a... _cosmic_ cannon!"

Everyone paused, looking at each other and trying to keep from laughing, before Kim finally broke. When she broke and burst out laughing, we all started laughing as well.

"That is a stupid name," she laughed and walked back over to where we were standing before. Zack gave Jason, Trini and I a confused look and Jason just shrugged, agreeing with Kim. Zack narrowed his eyes at Jason in a joking way and we walked back over to Kim. Zack slowly followed and Kim looked back to the rest of us. I inspected my lance as we headed over to her and looked up once she spoke.

"Let me show you guys how it's really done," she said and turned back to wear the Putties were to spawn. Tommy went back over to where he was sitting and I eyed him carefully.

"Oooooh," Zack said in a low voice sarcastically, putting his palms up and out. "We got a real badass over here, huh?"

"Oh, shut-" Kim began to say, but was interrupted by Zordon.

"Rangers, meet in the Command Center," Zordon told us and we all nodded, demorphing, our weapons disappearing with our suits. Since I was closest to Tommy, I helped him up and firmly held onto his arm while walking towards the Command Center.

"Billy, can I ask you something?" Tommy whispered, looking back briefly to the rest of the team, who were all trailing behind us. My nerves relaxed, as this was the real Tommy talking.

"Um, ok, yeah. Anything."

"Do you think Kim would wanna go out with me? Like...like on a date?" He asked and I opened my mouth, about to say something, but stopped. I believed that Kimberly was already with Jason, since the two were always so close and Zack told me that him and Trini saw them kiss. If they were together, they did keep it professional during training and around the team, though.

Tommy laughed a little at my expression. "I mean, not _now_ ," he said, misreading why I had the expression I did on my face. "Once this whole Rita thing blows over and I'm back to normal, I mean. She's super cute, though, and I wanna give it a shot. But you've known her longer than I have and know her better than I do, so...do you think she'd be interested?"

"Uh, well…" I said slowly in a low voice. "I think her and...and Jason are already...y'know…"

"They are?" Tommy asked, looking back again, a small frown on his face. "I was not aware."

"Yeah, well, Trini and Zack said they saw them kiss before...so…"

"Ah, ok," Tommy sighed and nodded to me, forcing a smile. "Thanks for letting me know before I asked her, Billy."

"Yeah," I stuttered out. "Yeah, no problem."

We reached the Command Center and Tommy sat down against a wall while the rest of us went to Zordon, looking up at him.

"What's up, Zordon?" Jason asked.

"Rita and Zedd are here," Zordon said with his usual bluntness and I quickly shot my head over to my team.

"What?" Zack scoffed.

"Sensors are going off the charts," Alpha sighed. "The only explanation as to how that can be is that both Rita and/or Zedd are within a few miles of Angel Grove."

"Ok," Jason said, pausing. "What-"

He was interrupted when we heard the familiar sound of armour materializing, as someone was morphing. We all looked over to Tommy and saw it was him.

"Oh no…" Kim muttered and the five of us quickly ran over.

"Zack, Kimberly-morph!" Jason shouted and looked to Tommy, holding his arms out. "Tommy, Tommy! Stop, demorph!"

Zack and Kim morphed and grabbed Tommy's shoulders, pinning him back down to the floor. He grunted and kicked his legs up aggressively, nearly hitting me in the face.

"Tommy, it's just us!" Trini said, pointing to her face and then mine. "Trini and Billy! We're your friends, Tommy!"

This was usually our routine when Tommy caused trouble. One or two of us would morph and restrain Tommy while the others would try and calm him down. We would plead with him for about a minute, and then he would calm down and we'd all breathe out a deep sigh of both relief and frustration, as the routine was tedious.

"Tommy, we-" I said, stepping up a bit but wobbled back, losing my balance when one of his feet hit my nose. I fell back on all fours and quickly stood back up, putting one hand under my nose and feeling blood trickle down.

"Tommy, relax!" Jason shouted and Tommy kicked his legs up again, Trini dodging the kick. After a few more moments of pleading, Tommy demorphed, as did Zack and Kim after him. Tommy ignored Zack and Kim still holding him down and looked to my nose.

"Billy!" he exclaimed, his eyes already begging for forgiveness. "I-I'm so sorry!"

"It's ok, really," I said, taking a Kleenex out of my pocket and wiping the blood off between my upper lip and nostrils before stuffing it in my nose.

"You good?" Kim asked and Tommy sighed, nodding. Zack and Kim exchanged a quick glance with each other before releasing Tommy, helping him sit up straight.

"It's never taken that long," Jason mumbled to us, talking about how it took us a while to get Tommy back. We all gave a slight nod and Jason looked to me. "Billy, you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm ok, I'm alright."

"Rita's perfecting her spell," Alpha said in a somber tone. Zack bit his lip angrily before stalking over to Zordon and motioned back to us.

"We can't keep doing this!" He yelled and we all looked to him before Jason gave Tommy one more glance.

"You sure you're good?" He asked and Tommy nodded. Jason then went over to Zack, as did the rest of us. "Can't keep doing what?" Jason hissed and Zack waved his hands towards us all, and then towards Tommy.

"This! Having to babysit Tommy and hold him down when he turns and hope for the best!" Zack yelled. "There's gotta be something we can do to stop the spell."

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do. All we can do is get to Rita and then we can break the influence, but we don't know where her and Zedd are. All we can do is wait for her to attack."

"So we just wait for her, while Tommy is around us?" Zack asked and sighed, pausing, and then continuing. "Look, this is just an idea, ok? But...what if we _let_ Rita get to Tommy?"

"Wait, what?!" Jason quickly asked and Zack tilted his head, holding a hand out.

"Just...listen," Zack said, looking to all of us. "Alpha is making it sound like, eventually, Rita will perfect her spell and right now...Tommy is just a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode and really hurt us. We leave him alone, let him get caught while the spell still isn't perfect, draw her and Zedd out, and maybe Tommy can take them on from the inside while we help him from the outside. That way, Tommy can't be a danger to us anymore."

I was thoroughly surprised, as this idea was actually a pretty good one and the last person I would've thought to bring about a good idea was Zack. Kim and Trini seemed to be considering the idea, pursing their lips and nodding.

"If you go through with this plan, there is a chance that Tommy may be taken off of earth," Zordon said and we all looked to him with confused expressions. Jason, however, scowled.

"Absolutely not," he growled and Zack rolled his eyes.

"Jason-"

"No!" Jason shouted, cutting Zack off. "Tommy is not some _bone_ to throw to Rita and Zedd or some _sacrifice_. He's our _teammate_ , and we keep each other safe no matter what."

"Jason, this is probably the best possible outcome. Sure, Tommy will be in Rita's hands, but she won't hurt him. Her and Zedd need him," Trini said and I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, they're gonna wanna keep Tommy alive,' I pointed out and Jason shook his head.

"How do you know that?" He asked in a quiet but firm voice. "We don't know what's going to happen to Tommy once we let Rita have him." Jason looked over to me and his brows slanted into a sad formation. "I'm not letting another Ranger die under my watch."

"It's Tommy being in danger or Tommy and the five of us in danger," Kim said and tried to appeal to Jason. "It's not that we don't care about Tommy, but it's one or it's all."

"I don't care if it was one or a hundred!" Jason hollered. "We don't abandon a team member. That's my final decision."

"Unfortunately," Tommy said, walking over to us slowly and looked to Jason. "It's not your decision." He then looked to the rest of us. "I know I have only been a Ranger for a week and I've hurt almost all of you and caused...so much stress, but I don't want to see any of my team get hurt and I know you guys care about me. Plus, it's Thanksgiving vacation so I won't have to miss any school while...hanging out," Tommy said, air-quoting. "With Rita."

"Of course, that's part of why we're doing this plan," Trini said with genuine sympathy and care, ignoring his joke. "We don't want to have to put you down if you fully turn when you're with us."

"Nobody's doing anything!" Jason yelled again. "I told you guys-I am not losing another one of you. We all had to watch Billy die and you remember how that felt." We were all silent and I looked to Trini, Kim, and Zack, all with extremely sad expressions. My death really hit them hard it seemed. "We were lucky; Billy was brought back. That won't happen again, though. If one of us dies from this point on, we're dead. There's no morphing grid energy to bring someone back again."

Everyone was silent again and Tommy gave a morbid scoff. "It's worth the risk. I'm in with this plan," he said and nodded to Zack, who nodded back. Jason scoffed back and rolled his eyes.

"Unbelievable," he muttered and headed for the exit of the Command Center.

"Jason!" Zack shouted and Jason turned back, throwing his hands up.

"You guys do whatever!" He yelled and then lowered his voice. "Let me know when you find Rita."

He left the Command Center and Trini looked to Kim. "You should probably go after him."

"Yeah," she sighed and excused herself, running through the exit to the Command Center and after Jason. We all stood in silence for one more time before Tommy held out his wrists.

"Mind taking these off? I gotta get out there," he said and I nodded, putting in a code to the cuffs. They dropped and clattered onto the metallic floor. Tommy stretched his arms out and brought his left wrist up, taking off his Communicator.

"Wait, wait, what're you doing?" Trini asked.

"If Rita finds me, I don't wanna give her easy access to the ship," Tommy said with a sly smile and I nodded back, agreeing with the idea.

"Zordon, um…" I started to ask. "What did you mean by Tommy might be 'taken off of earth?'"

"Rita and Zedd are from space, Billy. They are here in Angel Grove for Tommy first, and then they will most likely take him up to wherever they are hiding out near earth."

"So, I might be stranded in space?" Tommy asked nervously.

"You may be there for a short time or a long time, we don't know, but Alpha is working on updating the Communicators programming as we speak to be able to teleport to the location of your Coin. And if for some reason he can't accomplish that, we will just have to wait until you return to earth with Rita and Zedd when they come for the Crystal. They won't come back for it without you, Tommy. You are the only chance they will really have against the other Rangers."

"Ok…" Tommy said with a sigh and nod, seeming reassured.

(Kimberly)

"Jason!" I shouted, jogging through the final exit of the ship and reaching the outside, a slight drizzle taking place. Jason was walking down the mild slope and I ran up to him. "Jason!" I said again and grabbed his arm, pulling back and stopping him. He bit his inner lip and turned around to face me, shooting daggers at me with his expression. "Let's talk, ok?" I asked, my voice a bit shaky and nervous.

"How could you do that, Kim?" He asked harshly. "How could you just agree to throw Tommy into the fire like that? Especially after what happened with Billy? You seemed to really care when he died, but don't care about Tommy"

"Hey, that is not fair," I quickly said defensively, shaking my head. "I obviously care about Tommy, Jason! I'd rather have him alive in Rita's possession for a short time than us having to hurt him, possibly kill him, if he attacked us again to defend ourselves."

Jason exhaled an angry breath and lowered his voice again. "You don't know what it was like for me to see Billy die after it was my call to go after Rita. His death was my fault and I had never felt so...so…" he said, his voice breaking a little as he searched for the right word. "Guilty and...and _disgusted_. I'm not making the same mistake with Tommy. I never want to feel that way again."

"So this is about you, then?" I asked in a severe tone and Jason looked at me, shocked.

"You think I wanna make this about me?" He asked, hurt. He shook his head and sucked his lips in. "I don't need to hear this right now," he looked to me and shook his head again, pointing at me. "Especially from you." He started to walk back down the hill.

"You don't need to hear what, exactly? The _truth_?!" I shouted and he stopped, not turning around to face me, however. I slowly walked up to him and talked in a quiet, soft voice. "I am so sorry you felt that way after Billy died, Jason. I am and I would never want you to feel that guilt ever again." I paused and wanted him to look up at me, but he kept facing forward. "But this isn't about you or me, or Zack or Billy or Trini or any of us. This is about Tommy and about helping him. You see the way he looked while we were training this week and how guilty he looks after he attacks us. That same guilt you felt, he feels too. But, along with that, he's watched over and was tied up today like some kind of animal." I felt my own voice beginning to tighten as my voice cracked. "Billy threw water on him today like he was scolding a dog. That is what Tommy is when he is kept around us right now. An animal that we have to watch and make sure he won't have an outburst that could come at any moment. He wants to end this Tommy and he didn't even hesitate when Zack suggested the plan today." I walked up to Jason, who was still not facing me, and wrapped my arms around his stomach. I brushed my hand over his side, feeling the faint outline of the bandage over his knife wound. I got up on my toes and rested my chin on his shoulder. "This is for Tommy, not us," I whispered and hugged Jason tighter, feeling him silently sigh through my hands on his chest. He turned around and avoided eye contact at first, unintentionally telling me that he felt bad and in the wrong.

"I just don't want another Ranger's blood on my hands," he said in a small voice, looking to the ground. I put my hand up to his cheek, my fingers behind his head and my thumb above his ear, and he looked up to me.

"I know, I know," I said softly. Jason's eyes met mine and I quickly kissed him and then broke the kiss after a few seconds.

"Kim...I don't have a good feeling about this plan," he said quietly and I gave him a sympathetic look. Of course I was no huge fan of the idea either, but it was the best option we had for Tommy.

"I don't either," I answered with honesty. I don't think any of us had a good feeling about this plan. But, as we all agreed, it was the best plan we had with the least amount of risk. "But this is an easy plan to execute that doesn't have many cons." I gave him a hug and held him tight, lowering my voice. "I love you," I heard myself say without control. I quickly became worried, as it slipped out and was not the appropriate time to tell him. Not to mention him and I have only been officially together for just under three weeks.

However, to me, it felt like we had been together for well over three years.

My worries diminished hastily when I heard his response, a smile on his face.

"I love you, too."


	11. Chapter 11

(Tommy)

I bent over, putting my hands on my knees and gulped for air, out of breath. I felt sweat trickle down my back and forehead, breathing heavily as I straightened out, standing upright and put my hands on my hips, panning my eyes over the trees around me. About an hour ago, Zack, Billy, Trini, and Zordon told me to go somewhere distant and isolated. This way, there were no civilians nearby and no easy way for me to turn back.

However, it wouldn't have mattered if I had been one mile away from the ship or one hundred miles away; there was no way I was turning my back on this plan. I had only been a Ranger for one week, but I felt this innate bond with the others and this deep-seated need to protect my team since the day I found out I was the Green Power Ranger. They must've felt the same, because I knew they cared greatly about me, as I did them. I wanted to stop putting them in constant stress and danger, and the only way to do that was to execute this plan. I would be lying if I said I was too scared to go through with this plan on my own accord and was too scared to help my team by sacrificing myself.

But, I would also be lying if I said I wasn't scared at all.

I had no idea who Rita was, or Zedd, and was new to all of this. I didn't know what to expect from her or Zedd and that truly scared me. Not to mention that I was barely trained and would not be able to fight much if she provoked me.

But, the instinctive desire to protect my team heavily outweighed any fears, doubts, or uncertainties I had, and I was going to go through with this plan.

I flopped down onto a stump and leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees and caught my breath. I figured a run along a deep and sporadically used trail that was a few miles outside of Angel Grove lines would be a good place to go and wait to get caught. I smiled at the fact that my parents thought I was going to be on a camping trip for the next few days. They bought it, but it took some convincing as to tell them why I'd be gone for the next week, possibly. I figured this whole ordeal wouldn't take too long. All I had to do was let Rita get me, a thought that turned my stomach just a bit, and my team would handle the rest. They'd track my Coin and, when they were ready to come in, Zordon would make my Coin blink and, if I wasn't under Rita's influence at that time, I would attack from the inside while they would come in from the outside. If the Coin blinked and I _was_ under her influence, they would still come in and help and try to break Rita's influence immediately. If Alpha couldn't program their Communicators to teleport them to my location, they would just all have to wait for me to return with Rita and Zedd to earth. That latter situation was not what we wanted, so hopefully, Alpha could upgrade the Communicators in time.

Either way, it sounded like a pretty simple, yet somewhat risky, plan.

I looked down to the ground, intertwining my hands together and sighed through my nose. I bit the bottom, inside of my cheek and kept thinking.

I didn't hear anything but quickly sensed something was wrong. I kept looking down, feeling another presence just in front of me and took in another deep breath, feeling my heart race. I looked up calmly, seeing a woman standing there, with black, ripped clothes on. Her face looked wrinkled and as if it had been burned.

"Hello, Green," she mocked and I straightened up, removing my elbows from my knees. "I don't believe we have met yet." I stayed silent, both to appear unfrightened and I also didn't know _what_ to say. The woman, who I assumed was Rita, sneered. "Nothing to say?" she asked and tilted her head. "Pity, I wanted to hear you, your actual self, say something before you are a mindless servant of mine." I still didn't say anything, but felt a small rage begin to bubble inside of me. "Have it your way, Green. You won't be saying much until you're _attacking_ your fellow Rangers in a-"

The bubbling turned into a full on boil as I quickly leaped towards her, tackling her and knocking her to the ground. I reached my arm up, about to land a punch on her, but a massive headache filled my head and I winced, groaning out.

"Argh!" I yelled, rolling to the side and clutching my forehead. I heard Rita stand up and she laughed.

"You Rangers never seem to disappoint," she snarled and I rolled onto my stomach, trying hard to push the pressure in my head away. I forced myself onto my hands and knees and looked up to her. "Yellow and Red fought back when I confronted them, Blue came back to _life_ after I _killed_ him," she continued and I stood up, stumbling a little due to the intense crushing inside my head and gritted my teeth at her. "How about Black? Pink? Are they the _weak_ ones?" I let out an angry sigh of air through my nose and continued to grit my teeth. I didn't say anything and Rita nodded, mistakenly taking my silence as an answer. "They must be the weak ones. Maybe I'll pay one of them a visit right after I'm finished up with you. I already visited Pink once, not more than a few nights ago. She didn't seem to understand my message I sent to her in her dream, though, did she? Well, at least, not right _away_ she didn't." I clenched my jaw tight, summoning the strength to get up and fighting the pain in my temple. "She doesn't seem all too bright. She'll be an _easy_ target," Rita laughed.

I charged at her with a yell, wanting her to stop her taunts, but the pain in my head became even more bitter and piercing, causing me to collapse once again to the ground. I groaned out and took many shallow breaths, fighting the urge to cry out of pure pain.

"You're not gonna come after her or _any_ of them," I forced out in a croaky voice, shutting my eyes as a reaction to my head pounding. I opened my eyes and looked up to her.

Rita clicked her tongue and tilted her head, giving a sarcastic frown.

"You're right, Green. I won't be coming after them, _you'll_ be coming after them," she hissed and the misery inside my head got much worse. Within a few seconds, everything went black.

(Zack)

"You think Tommy got caught yet?" Trini asked as I put the car into park. I looked forward, at my house, for a moment before shrugging.

"Not sure, maybe," I said and sighed a little. Just a few hours ago, we let Tommy separate himself from us in order to get caught.

I was not a huge fan of Tommy since he was dangerous around us, but deep down, I couldn't be too upset with him since the outbursts weren't his fault. I did care about the guy since he was a fellow Ranger, but maybe I was too overzealous with my plan. "Maybe I messed up with this idea. We have no clue on how he's doing or if he-"

"Hey," Trini interrupted, stopping me from continuing. "We all agreed to the plan, remember?"

"Jason didn't," I muttered.

"Not initially, but Kim told me that she convinced him when she came back to give their Communicators to Alpha."

I scoffed a little. "She can change his mind on almost anything," I said and Trini chuckled back, nodding.

"But," she continued after a short pause. "Even if Jason still didn't agree with the plan, Tommy did and willingly accepted it. That's all that matters."

"Yeah, I guess. I just hope Alpha and Billy can update the Communicators in time," I said, looking to my bare wrist. Just before Tommy left to go isolate himself, we all had to give up our Communicators to Alpha and allow him to work on them with help from Billy. "I got so used to those things so quickly," I laughed and Trini laughed back, nodding.

"Me too. It feels weird not having it on," she agreed and we sat in a brief silence before I looked to her.

"Ready?" I asked in regards to her meeting my mom. I needed to come by and check on her and Trini asked if she could come by too and I accepted her request.

"Yep," she answered and I gave another nod, turning off my car and exiting, heading up to the front door. Trini trailed right behind me and I unlocked the door, opening it up for her.

"Sorry, it's a little messy," I said, excusing the clutter. I walked in, shutting the door behind me, and Trini shook her head with a shrug.

"Don't worry about it," she easily said and I smiled a little before quickly going to the kitchen. I went into the cabinet and pulled out a can of soup and pulled out a pot from another cabinet. I opened it up and poured it into the pot, filled the can up with water, and poured the water in with the soup mixture. I turned the stove on and put the pot over it, stirring it up. "Anything I can help with?"

I looked back to Trini and saw her standing near the door, her hands in her back pockets.

"Yeah…yeah…" I said and nodded to the fridge. "If you can grab a bottle of water from out of there," I told her and she nodded as I looked back to the soup, tapping the spoon on the side of the pot and setting the spoon onto the counter. "And, please, help yourself to anything you see."

I put my back to a part of the counter and pushed myself up, sitting on top of the counter and Trini still was looking in the fridge.

"Do you want anything?"

"I'm alright, thanks," I answered and Trini shut the fridge door, holding two bottles of water. I scooted over a bit and she hopped up next to me, holding out a bottle.

"No, the one I asked you to get is for my mom," I told her and she nodded, setting it to the side.

"So, does your mom speak English?" Trini asked and I shook my head.

"Just Mandarin," I said. "She knew a little bit before, when I was younger, but lost most of it."

"Is she going to criticize my beanie?" Trini joked, pointing to her hat and I laughed, shaking my head.

"No, she's cool. I'll let you know if she says anything about you, though," I said back and looked to the soup, seeing it boil. I hopped off the counter and turned off the stove. "Can you reach into that cabinet and pull out a tray and a stand?" I pointed to a cabinet right next to her.

"Yeah, sure," she said and opened it. I grabbed a bowl and poured the soup into it, sticking the spoon in as well, and grabbing my mom's medicine for the day. Trini handed my the tray and I set it on the counter. "Thanks," I said and she nodded. I set the bowl onto the tray, along with the water and medicine, and picked it up, nodding to my mom's room. Trini opened the door for me and I saw my mom's eyes open, looking over to me as I entered.

" _Hi, mom_ ," I said in Mandarin, speaking quietly. I turned back to Trini and nodded to the tray. "You mind taking that?" I asked and she nodded, grabbing it from me carefully. I quickly went to my mom and helped her sit up, setting the pillows in an upright fashion.

" _Who's this?_ " My mom asked, looking to Trini and I gave her a smile, taking the tray from Trini.

" _This is one of my friends, mom. Her name is Trini."_

"' _Trini?'"_ my mom repeated, seeing if she could pronounce it correctly. I chuckled a little and nodded. " _Tell her it is very nice to meet her."_

"She said it's very nice to meet you," I told Trini, turning back to her. Trini smiled and walked up a little, sitting in a chair next to my mom's bed.

"It is very nice to meet her, too. She raised a great son," Trini said, looking up to me and I gave a bit of a sheepish smile and turned back to my mom who held out the bottle of water for me to open.

" _Trini says it's nice to meet you as well and she says that you raised me well,"_ I told my mom, handing her the opened water.

" _Bah, she said no such thing."_

" _She did, mom, she thinks so,"_ I reassured her, and she also gave Trini a sheepish and heartfelt smile.

" _Thank you,"_ she said, looking to Trini.

"She says thanks," I told Trini and Trini smiled back to my mom. My mom grabbed my hand, interrupting my glance at Trini, and I turned to her.

" _Is she your girlfriend?"_ my mom asked suddenly and I started to laugh a little. " _She's so polite, Zack."_

I kept laughing a little and Trini eagerly spoke up. "What?" she asked and I chuckled again. "What did she say?"

I was about to tell Trini what my mother said, but knew where Trini stood on who her own orientation. I kept my smile, but started to feel a bit bad since I didn't want Trini to feel uncomfortable if I told her what my mom asked.

I briefly turned back to my mom, not wanting to hurt her feelings either. If I told her I had a girlfriend, it would make her day, and I wasn't sure how many more she had in her.

" _Yes, mom. She is,"_ I said and my mom smiled from ear-to-ear.

" _Why didn't you tell me about her sooner? You need to bring Trini around more often, Zack!"_ she said, not scolding, but firmly. I laughed again and nodded to my mom.

"What did she say? She insulted the hat, didn't she?" Trini asked and I shook my head, still grinning and chuckling a little.

"She...just asked if you knew who the Power Rangers were," I lied, not wanting to reveal to Trini what my mom asked and what my answer was. "She loves them."

"Ah," Trini said, laughing as well. "I hear they're pretty awesome," she said sarcastically and I laughed again, nodding.


	12. Chapter 12

(Jason)

I tried to focus on the movie in front of us, but my mind was racing.

Two days ago, we let Tommy go somewhere far by himself, in hopes that Rita would capture him, as that would draw her out and take Tommy off of our hands. Yesterday, when we came in for training, Zordon and Alpha informed us that Tommy's Coin tracking device left earth's parameters, meaning that Rita and Zedd made their move and got to him. Alpha and Billy were still working on trying to get our Communicators to be able to teleport through space, but it was hard work. Despite spending at least a dozen solid hours working on them the past two days, they were not making too much process.

The plan turned into a waiting game: we'd wait until Alpha and Billy finalized the Communicators so that we could teleport to where Tommy was and invade _Rita and Zedd_ , or wait until they made their move and invaded _us_. Either way, the thought of both options and not knowing which we would go with was causing anxiety that rippled through the team. It was dragging us down during training, so Zordon gave us today and tomorrow off, letting us relax both physically and mentally.

Zack found an old projector at his house and suggested a movie night outside, in hopes of allowing us to relax and calm our restless and worried nerves while also hanging out together. I was on board with the idea right away, even hosting the team, and thought it would help, but sitting here now, I couldn't stop thinking about when and how we were going to save Tommy and encounter Rita again, and now Zedd, who none of us have seen still.

I looked to the projection along the side of the shed in my backyard and stifled a groan.

Kim was sitting with me on a small couch from our patio and was laying on my chest, her hand resting on my stomach and my right cheek on the top of her head. She quickly lifted her head and looked up to me, feeling my stifled sigh. She slanted her eyebrows in confusion and I just shook my head, putting my hand to her hair and playing with it in a calming way. She gave me one more glance before turning her head back to the projection and lied back down on my chest. I pulled up the blanket a little, covering her shoulder as I did so, and looked to Trini, Zack, and Billy, who were all on a couch of their own that we had brought outside from my living room. Trini was sprawled across it, resting her head on Zack's stomach, who was slouched across the couch a bit.

I kept my eye on the two for another moment, wondering if they would ever get together. I knew Trini told us she was interested in women, but even I could see that she had a little thing for Zack, and I am about the most oblivious when it comes to other people's romantic interests.

I snapped out of my train of thought and glanced over, seeing Billy was on the other end of the couch.

I kept playing with Kim's hair and blinked furiously, forcing myself to focus on the movie in front of us. Billy brought some movie, an older one with Jack Nicholson, called 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.' He was talking about it before putting it 15 minutes or so ago, about how he read it last year for his AP Junior English class, which none of us were in.

"This movie is booooring," Zack complained, throwing his head back in apathy and gave a small whine.

"Maybe if you stop asking me questions about it every two minutes, you'd be able to hear and appreciate how great of a movie this is," Billy retorted in a light tone and I felt Kim chuckle against my chest.

"He's right, Zack. You've been talking throughout this entire thing," Kim said in agreement and Zack his head back to look at Kim and I.

"Shhhhh," he hushed Kim and turned back. I smiled a little, shaking my head, and went back to watching the movie, this time, a little more focused on it now. I kept running my hand through her hair and Zack spoke up again. "Ok, wait, who's that guy again?"

"That's McMurphy…" Billy said obviously and put his face in his hand, shaking his head.

"Zack, he's literally the main character," Trini said and I saw her look up to face Zack. He looked down for a moment before he broke the gaze, looking back to the screen.

"This movie is too confusing, can we watch something else?" He asked and then looked to me before anyone had the chance to answer. "Where's your bathroom?"

"Go through the back door and…" I started to say, but looked to my cup and saw it was empty. "Actually, I'll just show you. I need a refill anyway."

Kim sat up straight and I nodded to her cup. "Oh, no, I'm good," she said and gave me a smile. "Thanks."

"Yeah," I said and stood up. "No problem." I looked to Zack and tilted my head towards my house, having him follow me in. I opened up the back sliding door and waited until he got in before pointing down the hall that led to the foyer. "Second door on your left," I told him.

"Thanks," he said and patted my shoulder before heading to the bathroom. I walked to the kitchen and headed to the fridge, looking to the family room as I got myself more ice. I saw Pearl and my mom sitting on the other couch, watching TV.

"Where's dad?" I asked, looking back to my cup and stopped filling it with ice.

"Fishing," my mom answered and I felt a sarcastic smile creep up on my face once I opened the fridge.

"Course he is," I muttered to myself and grabbed the iced tea, pouring some in my cup. I shut the fridge and quickly glanced back to the family room, seeing both my sister and mom still watching the TV.

"Are you guys having fun?" My mom asked, still facing the TV. I swiftly grabbed the bourbon off the counter next to the fridge and opened it, filling the rest of my cup up with it.

"Yeah, thanks for letting me have people over." I screwed the cap back on, looking to the family room once again, my mom and Pearl not paying attention to what I was doing.

"You and Kimberly," my mom asked, turning around. I looked to her, awaiting what she was about to say. She didn't say anything, but I knew what she was wondering and I nodded.

"Yeah," I said with a small smile and she smiled back, turning to the TV. I swirled the mixture around in my cup and heard Zack exit the bathroom, heading back for the sliding door. I quickly joined him and headed back to my seat. I plopped down and Kim returned her head to my chest and her hand to my abdomen, cuddling up next to me. I took a sip of my drink and she looked up.

"What is that?" she asked, taking interest in it.

"Bourbon sweet tea, minus the sweet," I told her and handed the cup to her. She took a sip and made an unimpressed grimace.

"Yeah," she said, smacking her lips while still making the distasteful frown. "Too bitter."

I smiled and shook my head at her, returning to playing with her hair when she lied back down on my chest. Zack sat back down and looked to Billy as Trini returned her head to his stomach.

"What're we watching now?" Zack asked, beckoning to me to give him a sip of my drink.

"Why didn't you fill up your cup when we went inside?" I asked, reluctantly handing him my cup. He took a sip and handed it back, shrugging.

"I forget stuff sometimes," he said, pointing to his forehead and looked back to Billy. "What's the next movie?"

"I also brought 'The Da Vinci Code,'" Billy said, holding up the DVD case. I laughed, as did Kim and Trini, Zack giving Billy a confused look.

"Isn't that a confusing movie, too?" Zack asked and we all nodded.

"One of the most confusing," I said and saw a dim light out of corner of my eye, Kim's phone lighting up.

"Oh shit," she muttered and I looked down to her as she looked up to me. "My parent's flight is in a few hours and they are leaving for the airport in a few minutes. They want me home right now, before they leave."

"Where are your parents going?" Trini asked, glancing back.

"The Bahamas. They won a free trip for two, so while they're gone, I get the house all to myself," Kim said with a sly smile and Zack looked back to me with a smirk. I knew what he was suggesting with the smirk and I just shook my head at him.

"They're gone for Thanksgiving?" Trini asked.

"Yep," Kim answered and I shot my head back to look at her.

"You never told me that."

"It's not a big deal, I know how to work a microwave," Kim answered and I scoffed, shaking my head.

"You're coming here for Thanksgiving," I told her.

"Jason, really, it's-"

"No excuses," I said and gave her a smile. She smiled back, silently thanking me and another thought came to my head. "Wait, why'd your parents even let you come over if you had to head back in 20 minutes anyway?" I asked with a laugh and Kim gave another devious smile.

"I didn't tell them I was coming to your place."

"Oh great," I said in a bit of a joking way. "So if they find out you were here, they're gonna hate me even more."

"They don't hate you," she said, lightly hitting my shoulder with her hand as she sat up. She yawned a little and nodded to me and the others. "I'll see you guys tomorrow?"

"Yeah, we'll figure out something to do tomorrow," Zack said, waving to Kim. "See ya."

"Bye, Kim," Billy said, as did Trini. Kim hugged me really quick and looked to me.

"Call tonight?" She asked and I nodded, taking another sip of my drink. She gave me another smile and stood up, going to the back door and entering the house.

"So...Da Vinci Code?" Billy asked and I laughed, shaking my head.

"I'm with Zack on this one, no confusing movies," I said and Zack fidgeted a little, bouncing his knee up and down quickly.

"Can we stop watching movies and go do a late-night training session?" He asked suddenly and the three of us looked to him in mild shock.

"Zordon said to not come in tonight," I told him and he tilted his head, shrugging.

"Yeah, but, I'm getting antsy just sitting here."

"You're the one who suggested a movie night," Trini said with a laugh and Zack tilted his head again, a bit embarrassed.

" _Yeah_ , but I thought it'd be more fun, we literally aren't even watching anything," Zack said, motioning to the blank, blue screen on the side of the shed.

"Well, we _were_ until you complained about One Flew Over-" Billy started to say, but Zack cut him off.

"That movie was boring, though," Zack said and shifted, sitting up a little. Trini got off his stomach and looked to him, mildly annoyed.

"You wanna give me a warning before you just sit up?" Trini asked and Zack smiled, laughing a little. He turned back to me and had a plead behind his eyes.

"Can we _please_ go train? Or go on a hike? Just do something?" He asked and I sighed, rolling my eyes a bit. I looked to Billy and Trini, both of whom didn't seem opposed to the idea. I sighed again through my nose and broke a small smile, nodding.

"Alright," I said slowly, standing up. "Let's go on a hike. I'll go pack some snacks and meet you guys in the front."

Billy started to disassemble the projector and I headed to the back door once again, opening it, and heading to the pantry.

"Hey, mom," I said from the pantry, grabbing a box of granola bars and a box of pretzels. "We're gonna go on a hike."

"Jason, it's nearly 10:30," I heard her say and scoffed to myself.

"Yeah, I know. I'll be back before 1, ok? We're just heading to the forest preserve," I said back and exited the pantry.

"Fine, alright. But be safe and you come back no later than 1," she said and I nodded, grabbing my keys and jacket. I slipped on my coat and headed out the front door, seeing my team waiting for me near mine and Zack's car. I tossed the bag of pretzels to Trini and handed the granola bars to Billy.

"Really?" Zack scoffed. "Pretzels and granola bars?"

"Hey, it's healthy stuff," I said and raised a brow at him before looking to Billy. "C'mon, you're riding with me." I turned to Zack and Trini. "You guys wanna come with us too in one car? Or drive separate?"

"I think we'll drive separately," Zack said, looking to Trini, who nodded. "I don't really wanna have to come back here just to pick up my car."

I nodded back and got into my truck, Billy getting in as well.

(Trini)

"I'm glad we did that," I said, referring to the hike that Zack suggested a few hours ago. He nodded, pleased with my comment, and turned his car on.

"Yeah, it was nice to get up and do something," he said, pulling the car out of the forest preserve lot and headed down the street. I looked out the window to see Jason and Billy just start to pull out as well, and then turned straight forward again, looking out the windshield. The thought of Tommy sprung into my head and, even though I knew Zack wouldn't want to talk about it, I couldn't help it. "Do you think she's gotten to Tommy yet?"

"Trini-"

"I'm...I'm just wondering what you think. It's been two days and I just can't help but wonder."

Zack sighed a little and spoke in a low voice. "You want my honest thought?" I nodded and Zack glanced over to me, sighed again, and looked back to the road. "She probably has. Like, has completely gotten to him, I think. I mean, you said it yourself. She's had him for about two days, so…"

"Yeah," I said quietly. "I was thinking the same thing." I turned to Zack. "Why haven't they made their move yet, then?"

"I-" Zack said, then started laughing a little. "I don't know, I'm no fortune teller."

Zack clearly meant it as a joke, but I realized he really did not want to talk about what the future held. He didn't know what was going to happen, I didn't know what was going to happen, and none of us knew what was going to happen _until_ it actually happened. Questions would not change the fact that none of us knew what was going to happen. For now, all we could do was wait.

And the waiting sucked.

I fought the urge to ask more questions on the whole Tommy-situation and just stayed silent. The quiet made me a bit uncomfortable and anxious, however, so I changed the subject.

"Thanks for letting me come and see your mom the other day," I said, thinking back to a few days ago.

"No problem," Zack said and I could hear the smile on his face through his tone. "She liked the company."

"You'll need to bring me around more often," I said, purposely dropping a small hint.

Over the past few days, my feelings towards Zack only increased and a talk with Kim yesterday about how I felt towards Zack after training made me ready to act on them. I was scared, however, since I didn't know how he felt towards me and if me trying to make something happen between the two of us ruin our friendship.

"My mom said the same thing," Zack said with a little chuckle and nodded. "You can come with me to see her again tomorrow, if you want."

"I'm in," I smiled and I saw Zack smile too, still facing the road. It was silent the rest of the ride and he pulled into my parking lot, putting the car into park and turning to me.

"I'll text you tomorrow, see what time to pick you up at."

"Sounds good," I said and waited a bit, hoping he would maybe lean in since the air around us was pleasant. He turned, however, and nodded towards my door.

"Want me to walk you up?" He asked and I looked to the door as well, scoffing a little.

"Nah, that'll just make my mom be all weird if she sees me walking up with you," I said and quickly turned back to Zack, regretting my comment since I knew how it sounded. Zack glanced to me briefly and then to the wheel, nodding.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Crazy Girl," he said and unlocked the car, glancing back up to me and giving me a forced, flat smile. I hesitated for one quick moment before cupping my hands around his face and kissing him. It sunk in a moment later, and I was worried that he would pull back. But, he didn't, and the kiss only broke when I pulled back after a few seconds.

"But, I thought you...were…" he said slowly and I knew what he was about to say.

"Well I made an exception for you," I whispered with a smile. Zack smiled back and this time, he leaned in and I closed my eyes, kissing him again with no fears this time.


	13. Chapter 13

(Billy)

I walked quickly into the Command Center, trying to have confidence behind my step. I gave Alpha and Zordon a wave and headed to the table with the Communicators on them.

It had now been four days since Tommy had gone out on his own and since he got caught by Rita. We all assumed he had broken by now and was completely under Rita's influence. With the likelihood of that theory as a reality in mind, I wanted to finish the work on the Communicators as soon as possible. The work was hard, however, and very confusing. But I remained optimistic, as did Alpha.

"Good afternoon, Master Billy," Alpha greeted after I waved.

"Hey, Alpha," I replied and sat down at the table, preparing to work on the Communicators when I heard someone else enter the Command Center. I briefly turned back to see Trini and Zack enter together, then turned back to the Communicators.

"We beat bossman here?" I heard Zack ask with a laugh.

"We're early," Trini responded, also with a small laugh and Zack scoffed.

"Yeah, by a minute."

"How long have you been here, Billy?" Trini asked, walking up to the table and leaning against it, looking to me.

"Oh, I just got here," I answered and heard someone enter again. I turned back, seeing Jason and Kimberly come in the Command Center.

"You guys ready to train?" Jason asked, looking around. Zack let out a cackle and morphed, his visor disappearing and his axe appearing in his hand.

"Hell yeah," he said and Jason shook his head.

"Who said we're doing weapons training today?" Jason asked and Zack raised a brow, smirking a little. Jason cracked a smile and nodded a little. "Alright, fine."

I turned back to the table, Trini walking away from the table and heading to the exit of the Command Center. I heard the others head out too, but Jason's voice surprised me a bit.

"Billy, you coming?"

"I gotta get working on these things, Jason," I answered, not bothering to turn back as I quickly began to write down a possible formula that could be applied. I heard Jason give a small scoff.

"Good luck," he said and exited the Command Center. I continued to write furiously as Alpha looked to my paper.

"An idea, Master Billy?"

"Not sure yet…" I mumbled back.

"Billy," Zordon said and I looked to him with attention. "The Communicators will have to wait."

Suddenly, my team ran back into the Command Center and Jason stepped up to Zordon.

"What's wrong, Zordon?"

"There are Putties and they are nearing the Krispy Kreme," Zordon answered and my brows went high with shock.

"The Crystal…" I mumbled and looked to my team.

"We gotta go then!" Zack said frantically and came to the table, grabbing his Communicator. The rest of the team did as well, but an idea popped into my head.

"Jason, can I stay back and work on my Communicator? I need to get this figured out."

Jason hesitated, staring at me, and then looked to Zordon, who nodded. "Alright," Jason answered.

"Thanks, you...you guys be safe," I told them and they nodded, teleporting away to the Krispy Kreme. I sighed a little and looked to Zordon. "Thank you."

"Of course," Zordon said back and I looked back to my Communicator and the sheet of paper. I grabbed it and crumpled it up, not liking how my algorithm was looking.

"Why did you do that?" Alpha asked. I just grabbed another sheet and was about to begin writing, but froze when I heard something outside the Command Center. I looked to Zordon in confusion.

"What was that?" I asked and Zordon just kept his eyes on the Command Center door, as did Alpha. I looked to it as well, and my stomach felt as if it fell to the floor when I saw Tommy enter, already morphed. I quickly morphed as well and got in front of the the table, holding a hand out to Tommy.

"Tom-Tommy?" I asked cautiously. Tommy looked to me and his visor disappeared. Behind the mask was his face, but it was emotionless and his eyes were lifeless. I swallowed nervously as I saw his Dagger materialize in his hand. My lance immediately formed in my own hand and I tilted my head towards Tommy. "Tommy!"

"Empress Rita sends her regards," Tommy sneered and darted towards me, tackling me into the table. It collapsed under me and Tommy got on top of me, raising his Dagger. I quickly put my lance up, using the middle of it to stop his blade from reaching my face. I pushed his Dagger back up by pushing up my lance, but he was much stronger, and the Dagger got closer to my face. A sudden blue bolt came from my lance and pounced on Tommy, sending him flying backwards. He landed on a wall, back-first, and then fell to the floor. I stood up quickly and rummaged through the debris of the crashed table, finding my Communicator. Tommy quickly recovered as well, pushing himself up.

"Guys!" I shouted after pushing the button that sent my voice over the Communicator. "Tommy's here! He-"

Tommy dashed towards Alpha and I dropped my Communicator, sprinting over, sliding over onto one knee, and using my lance again to stop Tommy's Dagger from, this time, reaching Alpha. I grunted as Tommy began to push, the Dagger once again coming close to my face, and grit my teeth.

" _Billy?_ " I heard Jason ask through my Communicator, but I could not reach it due to Tommy being on top of me.

"Alpha, get-" I started to groan out, but Tommy swept a leg under my foot and I fell on my back. He raised his Dagger with a shout and slammed it down just as I rolled to the side, dodging his attack. He was right back over me, hovering over, and slammed his Dagger down again, grazing my arm as I rolled over again. I continued to grit my teeth, out of pain this time, and kicked Tommy in the knee, causing him to collapse for a brief moment. I stood up and raised my lance, bringing it down, but Tommy ducked my swing and I felt a hot pain in my thigh, seeing his Dagger enter through my armour and into my leg, then leave, all in one quick motion.

"Ah!" I shouted, falling to the ground. I winced as Tommy stood over me. He kicked my hand swiftly, knocking my lance out of my grasp, and then kicked my jaw, knocking me onto my back. I landed hard and forced myself to sit back up, ignoring the immense pain in my thigh. A small object, almost shaped like a ninja star, appeared in Tommy's hand, and he threw it at Alpha, having it hit directly. Sparks flew, and before I even realized what was happening, Alpha's body went limp and he clattered to the ground.

A bright flash of light emerged, Zack appearing in the Command Center, already morphed. He saw Tommy and yelled out, running and jumping horizontally, about to tackle him. Tommy saw Zack before Zack could take him down, however, and suddenly disappeared. Zack went right through where Tommy was just standing and landed hard on the ground, groaning just a bit. He slowly got up and saw me, his visor disappearing.

"Billy!" He shouted, running over and kneeling next to me. He looked to the ground around me, seeing blood, but no wound, as the armour had already repaired itself. My thigh, however, still had a large gash in it.

"Where'd he hit you?" Zack asked, still seeing blood spill out through thin crevices in the armour on my leg. I pointed to my thigh.

"It's ok," I groaned out. "He didn't hit anything major, I'll...I'll be fine."

"How do you know?" Zack frantically asked, putting pressure on my wound. He applied too much, however, and it felt like my bone was about to snap, even through the armour.

"Ow, ow! Zack-stop!" I said, and he removed his hands.

"Sorry, dude…" he said quietly and demorphed, as did I, and Zack removed his jacket, about to tie it to my wound, but froze when he saw the gash in my leg. He stared at it, but quickly snapped out of his grim daze after another brief moment of hesitation and tied his jacket around my wound.

"Go-" I started to say, but a sharp sting in my leg arose and I winced. I shut my eyes and groaned, forcing the sentence out quickly. "Go check Alpha. Tommy did something to him."

Zack nodded, running over to Alpha and kneeling down over him.

"Tommy gave Alpha a virus," Zordon said and we both looked to him.

"A...what?" Zack asked.

"Software-" I said and winced again. "Software that messes up technology."

Another flash of light appeared and Jason, Trini, and Kim appeared in the room. They saw me on the ground, bleeding, and all quickly ran over.

"Billy!" Kim shouted, crouching down and putting a hand on my shoulder. "What-what happened?"

"Tommy attacked," Zordon answered and looked to me. "Billy held him off valiantly. If he hadn't been here…"

"What did he do?" Jason asked, looking to Zack sitting next to Alpha, then looking back to us. Jason slowly walked over and looked down to Alpha.

"He cut me and gave Alpha a virus, shutting Alpha down," I responded, smacking my dry lips. "Anyone got water?"

"I'll get some," Trini said quickly and ran out of the Command Center, heading to the Pit.

"Can we fix Alpha?" Jason asked, kneeling down and lowering himself to get a better look at Alpha. He then looked to Zordon, his eyes pleading.

"It's possible, yes," Zordon answered and Trini returned, a bottle of water in her hand. I grabbed it from her and drank thirstily from it.

"Well," I said, standing up. Kim stood up with me and I hobbled over to Alpha on my non-wounded leg, Kim carefully walking right beside me. "Let's get started."

"Billy," Zack said with caution and I looked to him, slowly sitting down beside Alpha.

"What?"

"You should rest a little, buddy. Just for a few hours," Jason warned and I shook my head, looking to him.

"I'm fine, Jason," I said and looked up to Kim, who was standing beside me. "Mind getting my tools?"

Kim quickly nodded and ran to the destroyed table, grabbing my tool box and bringing it back over. I nodded as a thanks when I took it from her, and opened it up, but Alpha suddenly sprung up, sitting up straight.

"Is he gone?" Alpha asked and my brows furrowed in confusion. Alpha looked around anxiously and sighed, full of relief.

"Alpha, you…" I said, but stopped. "You're ok!"

"Of course I'm ok," Alpha said, standing up and looking to my leg. "Master Billy, but you're not! What happened?"

"I'm fine, really," I said, standing up with help from Kim and Jason. "How're you…?"

"When Master Tommy threw the weapon, I shut myself off as a defense mechanism for five minutes."

"You can do that?" Trini asked with a small, nervous laugh.

"I can," Alpha answered and I also blew out a sigh of relief. We all exchanged looks of both confusion and reprieve.

"I'm glad you're ok, Alpha," I told him and he nodded.

"Alright, alright," he said and headed to the ruined table. "We need to work on these Communicators."

(Kimberly)

I cupped my hands around my eyes as I pushed my face up to Jason's window, seeing him sitting on his bed, looking to the window. He saw me and sprung up from his bed, quickly heading over to the window and sliding it open.

"Hey," he greeted quietly, as it was just over midnight. I slipped through the window and kissed him.

"Hey, thanks for letting me stop by," I said when our brief kiss broke.

"Yeah, no problem," Jason replied and shut his window. I sat on the edge of his bed and he flopped down, laying on it. I gave him a confused look and he smiled, waving me over.

"Don't be shy," he joked and I layed down also, resting my head on his chest as he put his arm around me, embracing me.

"I still can't believe Tommy attacked the Command Center today," I said quietly and Jason sighed.

"Yeah…" he said and looked down to me. "You made sure Zack got there before you left?"

"Yep," I answered and Jason nodded. "He's not happy about being the night watch, though."

Zordon told us to not worry too much, as Tommy most likely wouldn't attack the Command Center again since now we knew he might be coming. He wasn't expecting Billy to be there when he entered, as he thought all of us would be out fighting the Putties near the Krispy Kreme.

Jason, however, told us he wanted someone at the Command Center at nearly all times to guard it and alert us if Tommy were to stop by again. I had the first shift after we finished training for today and just sat in the Command Center while Billy and Alpha worked on figuring out how to update the Communicators. Just a few minutes ago, Zack showed up for his shift and I was going to head home, but really didn't want to be by myself with a now fully-rogue Tommy on the loose.

"Well, he can deal with it," Jason firmly said. "Billy make any progress on the Communicators?" he asked and I shook my head.

"Not really," I sighed and Jason did as well.

"We might just have to wait for Rita to make her move," Jason said and I shifted uncomfortably, not liking the idea. "It doesn't seem like Billy is going to get those things to be able to teleport through space."

"They already made one move, who knows when they'll strike again," I solemnly said.

"Hey," Jason said, looking down to me. I looked back up. "Whatever happens, we'll be fine."

I hesitated, then forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I know," I said back and kissed him. We broke the kiss and sat in silence for a few moments, before I spoke up again. "Your parents know I'm coming to dinner tomorrow...well _today_ technically," I corrected, as it was about 12:15 in the morning. "Right?"

"Yeah," Jason said with a small laugh. "I let them know the other day. They're excited to meet you."

"The feeling is mutual," I responded, but paused and shifted a little again. Jason felt my movement and picked up on it.

"What's wrong?"

"Do they…" I started to ask, looking up at Jason. "Do they know about what I did?"

Jason paused for a moment, avoiding eye contact and then looked to me once again. "To Ty or to Amanda?"

"Both."

"They know about Ty…" Jason said slowly but then looked down. "Not Amanda, though."

I felt my stomach drop a little and became nervous.

"What do they think of me?" I asked and Jason looked back up for a moment, staring at nothing. "I mean, I know they haven't met me yet but they know I punched Ty and-"

"Kim," Jason scoffed. "Let me stop you right there." He looked back down and lowered his voice. "It doesn't matter what they think of you right now. When they meet you today, they're gonna realize what an amazing, sweet, smart girl you are and they're gonna love you."

I felt myself blush a bit and gave Jason a smile; a real smile, letting out a small breath of relief. "As much as you love me?"

Jason laughed a little and shook his head, leaning in. "I don't think that's even possible," he whispered just before his lips crashed into mine.

(Zack)

My eyes shot open when my head began to slump and I quickly lifted my head in attention, blinking quickly to try and stay awake. I stared at the door to the Command Center and sighed.

"Master Zack…" Alpha started to say slowly. "You've been here for an hour and have almost fallen asleep a few times. You should head home."

I shook my head without hesitation. "I'm not just gonna leave you and-" I said, but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps outside the door. I stopped talking and looked to Alpha, waving him back. He headed closer to Zordon and I morphed, feeling my axe form in my hand as I stood up from my seated position, my heart racing. I gripped the handle of my axe tightly and kept staring at the door, raising my axe when it opened. I quickly stopped myself, however, seeing that Trini was entering.

"It's just me!" Trini exclaimed, holding her palms out in defense and looking to me. I exhaled a small, relieved breath and demorphed, sitting back down.

"What're you doing here?" I asked, looking up to her. She shrugged, looking down, sticking her hands in her jacket pockets.

"Couldn't sleep. I knew it was your watch, and figured I'd stop by and help you stay awake."

"I've been staying awake," I said back.

"No he hasn't!" Alpha shouted to Trini and Trini laughed a little, causing me to crack a small smile and laugh as well.

"Well...since you're here, you wanna go train?" I asked and she tilted her head, thinking.

"Mmmm...sorry," she said and sucked her teeth in, clicking her tongue. "I don't really feel like kicking your ass tonight."

"Ha ha," I sneered with sarcasm and Trini laughed again.

"No, but for real, do you wanna go for a walk or something?"

I glanced back to Zordon and Alpha, seeing Zordon nod, and turned back to Trini. "Let's do it," I said, standing up. I turned back to Alpha and Zordon before following Trini out. "We'll stay close, ok?"

"Sounds good," Alpha said and went to the station that had all the work from the Communicators. I turned back to Trini and nodded to the door, indicating for her to head out first. She did so, and we both exited the ship, heading back outside. She stopped at the top of the hill and I stood next to her, glancing over to her as she looked out over the horizon. She crossed her arms and appeared nervous, but I brushed it to the side.

"We gonna go for that walk?" I asked and she quickly looked back to me, nodding.

"Yeah," she smiled and headed down the hill, me following just behind her. We got to a stretch of trail that was wide enough for us to comfortably walk side by side and I fell in stride with her.

I was glad she was here, as I wanted to ask her about the kiss the other night. We had seen each other since that night at Jason's, but only with the team around; not just the two of us. I was scared and worried, as I thought she no longer had feelings for me. However, I didn't know how to ask her or even if I should ask her. I knew she was interested in girls; she basically told us at the campfire when she didn't deny my 'girlfriend troubles' comment. But, she did kiss me and that had to have meant something.

Right?

"How's watching the Command Center?" she asked as we walked. "I have next watch, at around 7 this morning." She scoffed. "Even though it's Thanksgiving."

"Boring," I laughed and looked to her, putting my hands in my pockets. "I can take your watch, though. If you want."

"What?" she asked and looked to me, confused. "Zack, you don't have to do that."

I gave a small shrug. "I mean, it makes sense that I watch all day today. My mom and I don't celebrate Thanksgiving. I just need to stop by and get her her food and meds, but then I can just come right back."

"No…" Trini shook her head and stopped, turning to me. I stopped as well, turning to her. "You watch your mom today and hang out with her. She probably misses seeing you often."

I paused, looking down a bit, knowing Trini was right. "Yeah…" I said, looking back up but looking out to the horizon again, nodding. "Alright," I said and looked to Trini. "But you call me if you want out of guard duty, got it?"

"Got it," she responded with a laugh and continued to walk, as did I. We walked in silence for quite some time, maybe half a minute, but it felt like much longer. I glanced to her and she was looking ahead, but she caught my glance and looked to me. Just as she did, I looked back in front of me and pretended I hadn't been looking to her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her keep an eye on me for one more brief moment before looking ahead again.

The silence was stretching me thin, making the air around us tense and anxious, and I felt myself speak without control. "So...about the other night…" I started to say and Trini looked down, continuing to walk. I stopped talking, not really knowing how I wanted to go about telling her how I truly felt. I wasn't good at this kind of stuff and Trini was still a little shy, so we both didn't know what to say. "Look...I…" I continued, but stopped again, fearful that Trini wouldn't reciprocate my feelings. I stopped walking and turned to her, as did she to me, and I breathed in deeply. "I _like_ you, Trini. And, the other night...that kiss was…" I laughed a little, lowering my voice. " _Amazing_. But...yesterday and the day before...you...haven't said anything about it…" Trini kept looking at me, paying attention to what I was saying, but not really reacting. "I just…" I continued on, more nervous now since she wasn't saying anything. "I just wanna know if _you_ feel...how _I_ feel."

She kept staring at me and, just as my heart began to drop, she moved closer and held my face in her hands, kissing me. I kissed back and there was a natural break in which I saw Trini smiling hugely.

"I was worried you didn't feel the same way," she whispered, a bit out of breath. I kissed her again, pushing her up against a nearby tree, and continued to kiss her; intensely and fervidly.


	14. Chapter 14

(Jason)

I heard a knock on the door and quickly stood up from the kitchen table, heading over to the front door briskly. I opened it, seeing Kim standing outside of the glass door with a smile on her face and a pie in her hands. I smiled back, and opened the door for her, allowing her to enter. I took the pie from her, as she handed it to me, and kissed her briefly.

"Hey," she said once the kiss broke.

"I said you didn't need to bring anything," I said with a slight scoff. Kim just shrugged.

"It's the least I could do. You guys are letting me have dinner with you."

"Hello!" my mom said with excitement, coming into the foyer of the house before I could reply to Kim.. "It is so nice to finally meet you, Kimberly!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Scott," Kim politely said back. "It is so nice to meet you as well."

I saw Pearl a few feet behind my mom, shyly standing in the background, and I looked around my mom to make eye contact with Pearl. I smiled at her and waved her over, then looking back to Kim.

"And this is my little sister, Pearl," I said, walking over to Pearl and crouching down. I looked to Pearl and pointed to Kim. "That's Kim, can you go say hi?"

"Hi, Kim," Pearl said in a quiet voice. Kim shot me an amused smile before looking down to Pearl.

"Hi, Pearl!" she said and gave Pearl a warm,impressed look. "I _love_ that cardigan."

"Thank you," Pearl said, still quiet, but cracked a small smile. Kim laughed a little in response and my mom spoke up.

"Alright, c'mon in," she said, heading towards the kitchen. Pearl followed close behind her and Kim wrapped her arms around the crook of my elbow, walking beside me. Just as I began to wonder where my dad was, I saw him sprawled on the couch, watching a game of football. I bit my inner cheek in anger at how rude he was being, not paying any attention to Kim, and looked to my mom.

"Sam," she said and my dad looked over. "Kimberly is here." I sat the pie down on the counter and looked to my dad.

"Ohh," he said slowly, as if he had _no_ idea. He got up lethargically and walked over. I kept my eyes on him, giving him a firm, cold look. He walked up to Kim and shook her hand.

"It's is so nice to meet you, Mr. Scott," Kim said in a well-mannered tone. My dad smirked a little, nodding.

"And you as well, Kimberly," he said. "Jason has told us so much about you."

"All good things, I hope?" Kim joked, nudging me slightly. I laughed a little, but a red flag went up inside my head. What was my dad getting at? I didn't tell him or my mom really _anything_ about Kim, besides the fact that she was my age and that we were now dating.

I stopped myself and pushed the negative thoughts from my head. Maybe my dad was just trying to be polite; I needed to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"This all looks incredible!" Kim exclaimed as I pulled out her chair for her. I let her scoot herself in and sat next to her, taking a sip of water from the glass in front of me as I saw my dad sit across from me. He gave me a nod, almost in an approving way, and I felt my nerves relax.

He seemed to be liking Kim, despite knowing that she punched Ty.

"It does, mom," I said in agreement, looking to her as she sat down next to me. Pearl sat in between my dad and Kim and Kim gave her a friendly smile.

"Thank you," my mom beamed and began passing the turkey first. We passed around all the dishes, taking a bit of this and a bit of that, and began eating, wondering who would make the first attempt at conversation.

"So, Kimberly," my mom said and I breathed a sigh of relief, as my mom was much more polite and better at starting conversation than my dad. "How's your senior year going?"

"It's going really well, actually," she answered, looking up to my mom. "I'm enjoying all my classes and doing pretty well in them."

"That's always nice to hear," my mom continued. "Have you been looking at colleges?"

"I have, and I actually have applied to a few, too," Kim answered and my mom laughed a little.

"Well that's good," she said and looked to me. "You could learn a thing or two from Kimberly, Jason. You haven't even applied to one!"

Kim chuckled a little beside me and I gave her a slightly embarrassed smile in response before taking a bite of mashed potatoes from my plate before talking. I was going to take the conversation in a different direction, as I was going to mention the AP classes Kim was taking this year to impress my parents, but my dad spoke before I could.

"Looking for colleges is quite a process," he said, looking to Kim. "A lot of factors go into making that decision."

"Oh, for sure," Kim agreed. "I think low-cost is probably my top factor as of right now."

"Yeah," my dad nodded. I was surprised, actually. He seemed, at least from what I could tell, as if he was enjoying Kim's company. "But there's also other things to consider. Distance from home, size of school…" For just a brief moment, I saw his eyes dart over to me and then, almost immediately, shift back to Kim's.

That's when I felt my heart sink, as I knew he was up to something.

"Friends," my dad added and Kim nodded in agreement. Before anyone else could talk, my dad was continuing. "Do you know where some of your friends are going yet?"

"Well…" Kim said slowly, thinking. I wanted to interrupt badly, as I knew my dad was taking this somewhere that I didn't want it to go. I just didn't know _what_ exactly he was up to yet. "I know Jenny Arroyo is going to UCLA, but I'm not too interested in that school, and-"

"What about Amanda Clark?" my dad asked, cutting Kim off. I quickly glanced over to Kim, who was also a bit taken aback by my dad. She quickly recovered, however, and gave a polite smile.

"I'm actually not sure, I know she-"

"You're not sure?" my dad interrupted again with a small laugh, and I felt anger begin to form inside me. "I thought the two of you were best friends?"

"Well…" Kim slowly answered. "We're not that close anymore. With different schedules and all, we grew apart a little."

"Ohhhhh," my dad said with a fake virtue behind it, nodding. "So the two of you 'growing apart' has nothing to do with the photo you sent out of her?"

I felt my own face freeze in pure shock and I turned my head to Kim, whose face was also frozen and empty of color. I tried to force words out, tried to talk to her, but I just couldn't.

"What photo?" my mom asked slowly.

"Kim-" I started to say, but my dad looked to my mom with a feigned confused, innocent.

"You mean...Jason didn't tell you about the photo?" my dad asked and I looked from Kim to him in awe as I felt Kim dart her head towards me. "That's weird...he told _me_ about it."

Kim sprung up from her chair and exited the dining room, heading for the front door. I looked back to my dad, who just glanced back at me as he took another bite of turkey from his plate, a smug attitude behind it. I fought the urge to scream and yell at him and focused on Kim, springing up from my chair as well and heading out the front door.

"Kim!" I shouted, running over to her as she was entering her car. " _Kim!_ "

She stopped entering her car, standing in between the open door and the car itself, and turned to me, a hand still on the top of the door.

"How could you do that to me?!" she shouted, her eyes glassy and her face red. "Why would you tell them what I did?!"

"Kim," I said, my voice shaky. "I swear to God, I didn't tell them _anything_! I didn't even tell them about Ty-they found out through Ty's parents!"

"Well, there's no way Mr and Mrs. Clark would go around saying that there was a lewd photo of their daughter going around school so they wouldn't have told _anyone_! _You're_ the only person I told, Jason!"

"Kim, please, I didn't tell my dad! I'd never do that to you!"

"There's no other way he could've known, Jason!" she shouted back, tears starting to fall. She stopped and closed her eyes, shaking her head. She opened them and looked away from me, collecting herself. She looked back to me and shook her head again. "I trusted you," she said quietly and got into her car, slamming the door behind her. I was about to go up to her window, but she reversed her car before I could and pulled quickly out of my driveway. I watched her car until I couldn't see it anymore and was filled with sorrow and concern. I was about to pull out my phone and call her, but then I remembered my dad, and anger took the place of the sorrow in my body. I headed back inside and stormed into the dining room, seeing my mom stare at my dad in confusion and my dad continue to eat his food.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" I shouted.

"Jason-" my mom started to say, but I just focused on my dad.

"You're a real asshole, you know that?!" I yelled and my mom quickly sent Pearl out of the room before looking to me.

"Jason Lee Scott, you do _not_ talk to your father like that."

"No, mom!" I continued on, looking to my dad, who kept on eating in a self-righteous manner. "He knows what he did! He sabotaged Kim!"

"'Sabotaged?'" my dad repeated with a scoff, standing up. "How about _protected_ you? She punched a boy's tooth out and sexted a girl, Jason! Kimberly is bad news!"

"People make mistakes!" I shouted back. "If you would just stop being a selfish bastard for more than five seconds, you would realize how nice and genuine of a girl she is! But, no! You just have to keep trying to prove you know more than _everyone_ , dad! Get over yourself!"

I stormed out of the dining room and grabbed my keys, heading for the front door.

"Jason!" I heard my mom shout, but I kept going and exited the house, heading to my truck. I entered it, put the key into the ignition, and headed to Kim's house.

(Trini)

"I still can't believe what happened!" my uncle said, regarding the attack on Angel Grove a few weeks ago.

"It was pretty scary," my dad agreed.

"Scary?" one of my younger brothers repeated, surprised. "It was _awesome_!"

"Yeah!" my other brother exclaimed in agreement. "There were five super heroes who saved the town and beat the witch!"

I fought a smile down, as I was always a bit proud and happy whenever my brothers would mention the Power Rangers. I had not told them that I was a Ranger, and never would, but it still made me happy to see them so excited over something like this; especially something that I secretly did, without their knowledge.

"I heard about that, on the news," my aunt said after taking a bite of food, nodding. "They're calling them the 'Power Rangers.'"

"They're _so_ cool," my brother said with excitement and I took a bite of stuffing as the conversation carried on. I felt my phone vibrate under my thigh and slowly slipped my hand under, grabbing my phone and unlocking it.

I looked to my phone subtly, seeing a text from Billy telling me he just got to the Command Center. I quickly put my phone back down, as to not draw attention from any of my family, but my my mom caught me.

"Trini, no phones, please," she told me and I nodded, giving a flat smile.

"Sorry."

"Who were you texting?" my aunt questioned, interested.

I knew my parents were suspicious of where I stood...sexually. Based on my clothes and overall attitude, I knew they had a feeling of how I was and didn't know if they'd accept it when I would finally tell them.

Zack and I were a _thing_ , I guess, but that didn't mean I still didn't find interest in girls.

Kim, for example, was one girl I found to be extremely attractive and would never turn down for a date. However, the two of us were friends, she was with Jason, and she was straight; three reasons that I could never date her.

I had yet to tell my family about Zack and didn't want to, since I still had to come out to them and would rather do that first rather than tell them that I'm with Zack first.

"One of my friends," I answered shortly, not appreciating my family muddling in my business. It was bad enough that my parents did it, but now my extended family did so as well; especially on holidays.

"Which friend?" my mom asked, her interest also sparking. "That Zack boy that I met the other week?"

"'Zack?'" my aunt asked, looking from me to my mom. "Who is this boy?" She looked to me again. "A friend or a... _friend_?"

"He's just a friend," I lied easily. "And, no, it wasn't Zack who texted me, it was one of my _other_ friends."

"Which friend, then?" My mom repeated and I just shook my head.

"Someone I-" I stopped myself, as I was about to say 'someone I met in detention' to cover, but almost forgot that my parents _still_ don't know I have detention every Saturday morning. "Someone I met in my English class."

"What's this friend's name?"

"They're just a friend, mom. It's not a big deal," I said back defensively, but politely, and my mom nodded, backing off.

For now.

 **A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in awhile! School starts this Monday for me and I've been doing summer homework. I know this chapter was kinda short and dinky but I hope you guys are still liking it so far!**


	15. Author's Note

I will be rewriting this story and it will go in a slightly different direction! I know I haven't updated in a very long time, but that's because

I kind of wrote myself into a corner and this isn't how I pictured my ideal sequel going as of right now

I want to give Tommy some depth since he really doesn't have any in this story lol

Most of the new chapters will be relatively the same as the ones now but there will be some major changes present, which you will see. I'm sorry I've been MIA for quite some time but since this is probably the closest thing to a sequel we'll get (lol), I want to keep writing it! Just in a different direction!

I will post the new start to this story by tomorrow and will try to update weekly. Thank you!


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